No Whistling Zone
by M. Lizabeth Currain
File this under “pet peeve” if you must, but hearing people whistle, aggravates me. I don’t mean a whistle to get someone’s attention, or whistling to hail a cab; I am talking about whistling a tune while on a train or a bus, whistling while you work, or WHISTLING FOR NO REASON AT ALL. Those caps indicated me shouting–that is how much I hate whistling! Don’t people understand that not everyone is interested in hearing them butcher innocent music notes with their inability to string them together into something decent? It doesn’t help they are always whistling at the worst possible time. No one wants to hear it in the morning before they have to go to their job they hate or in the evening after a long day at their job they can’t stand. Why are they whistling in the first place? Do they not have a job? Because if they had a job, they wouldn’t be so f’ing happy to the point that they are whistling like it is the best day in their whole g.d. life.
I always think about telling them to shut up. Maybe saying something like, “Are you serious? Are you seriously whistling? When there are about 40 people in this subway car, who probably don’t want to hear it? Can it my friend, just f’ing can it.” Do they not realize how annoying it is to everyone? There should be “no whistling” zones, subways being the main one–or any public place, especially if it is a public place that I am likely to be at. Am I the only person who is bothered by whistling? Because if I am, I really need to rethink Earth as my planet of choice; because I’m not sure if I want to live in a world where people love whistling, it is just so, so annoying. I am normal and this is a normal feeling. End. of. story.
Ahmusings 
I hate whistling too. It is annoying!
http://messedupparentingtips.wordpress.com/
At least there is someone else! Do the world a favor and don’t teach your kids how to whistle!
I have a no whistling rule… or absolutely any annoying sound rule…
LOL. Some people just don’t have good etiquette. But it makes for a very funny story. Nice post.
INDEED! I don’t know what it is about whistling that makes me cringe like nails down a chalk board. My boyfriend’s mother likes to whistle while we play cards, and i sit there and cringe, and she told me I should talk to a therapist about it. There’s a woman at my work who whistles ALL THE EFFING TIME and i really like her and all, and I don’t want to create tension in the workplace so I just put my headphones on and listen to my music. I don’t understand it, but pure torture for me would be being stuck in a room and forced to listen to people whistle until i go crazy.
It drives me crazy when my co-worker whistles – it’s atonal, tuneless and he whistles the same 2 or 3 freakin’ notes over and over again. I findi it especially rude when he does it while I have the stereo on. It’s not like I’m playing death metal or rap either, it’s usually pretty mellow stuff, and not very loudly either. He’s 62 and I’m 38. He says he doesn’t like music with singing in it, and we work in separate offices most of the time and I don’t play my music very loudly. I only started playing my music more often when he started whistling. I’ve been working with him for almost 5 years, and I’ve only started noticing the whistling, finger-drumming, tongue-clicking and other noises coming from him. WTF?!
You’ll enjoy this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb3e7MhHjR0
Thank you! This was really interesting! I definitely lost a lot of thoughts having to listen to people whistle.
Thank you so much for this. I actually found this while googling “I hate whistling.” Frequently I’m at the cafe minding my own business and using the internet, and out busts a cafe employee with soul-searing obnoxious whistling. Jamming my earbuds into my ear canal and listening to MP3s at maximum volume is not enough to drown it out. It’s hellishly annoying, but, to add insult to injury, it’s completely inconsiderate. I don’t understand how these people can sleep at night knowing they’ve spent the day assaulting so many guiltless ears.
Whistling is one thing I cannot stand! For some reason it just grates on my nerves. There is no cause for people to be whistling all the time! It should be a crime.
The worst part about asking whistlers to stop is that the majority of them believe it’s their G-d given right to whistle. They don’t seem to realize that if they refuse your request to stop, THEY are the rude one, not you. 99% of the time if I ask someone to stop, he’ll respond, “why?” At that point you know he’s never going to stop; because if someone truly can’t wrap their head around the idea that constant noise is irritating to others, they are beyond help.
One thing I noticed; almost all whistlers I hear are men.
I hate it too! I want to pull my hair out and scream sooo loud when they do it. I can be in the happiest mood then someone whistles even for a second and i get soo fucking mad.
You’d be amazed at the number of people who just can’t stand it, but just won’t say anything
The reason they don’t is because the whistler will tend to take it personally. Or just do it more.
When im confronted with this shit ill just start whistling myself. Makes most of them stop and think “hey! My whistling really DOES make a noise. And it really DOES irritate other people. Maybe i should STFU?”
For the more stubborn azzhat types, i reserve the super loud shrill through the teeth birdcalls.