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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think about punching my coworker?

15 replies

DryCounty79 · 30/05/2013 08:51

He is a lovely man who I get on with really, really well. But this morning he has been whistling virtually non-stop for 20 minutes!! I wouldn't mind quite so much if he was whistling along to the music on the radio, but he isn't. The 'tune' keeps changing and is nothing to do with what we're listening to.
I'm generally quite laid back, but it is seriously doing my head in - my right ear is actually hurting a little!!
I know I should politely say something, but I don't want to be rude and it happens so rarely I feel like I'd be making a huge deal out of nothing.

OP posts:
sagfold · 30/05/2013 09:12

Who doesn't want to punch a co-worker on occasion?

NeverBeenToMe · 30/05/2013 09:20

Keep saying "I'll name that tune in ...... three!"

(Disclaimer: you (and/or he) may be too young to get the reference! Oldish gimmer here Smile)

fuzzywuzzy · 30/05/2013 09:21

offer to make him a cup of tea or something, it'll shut him up whilst he's drinking it.

Alternatively, say 'sorry, I've got earache today think I'm coming down with something, can you stop whistling it's really hurting'

SacreBlue · 30/05/2013 09:32

In my work some people put on music and as I can't leave the room (or put on headphones) I usually asked for it to be lowered or the device to moved away from me if it starts to grate but I do on a lot of occasions wish it was just switched off.

FWIW my DS is as bad as Sheldon and has a strict 'no whistling/no singing' policy in our car :(

Original poster
DryCounty79 · 30/05/2013 09:52

He's stopped now, thank goodness!

sagfold - good point!

Never - I do get the reference, but only just - vague childhood memories Smile

fuzzy - good idea. I did try to engage him in conversation, but he's not really in a talkative mood.

Sacre - sorry you have to put up with unwanted music so often at work. We listen to ours via internet radio, and only have it just loud enough to hear if you're actually at the desk, so it doesn't disturb anyone else.
Does your DS also schedule bathroom time in the mornings?! Grin

OP posts:
yegodsandlittlefishes · 30/05/2013 09:52

Turn the radio up to drown him out until he stops. Grin

KurriKurri · 30/05/2013 09:55

My DH does this - the minute he hears a tune, he starts whistling a totally different one over the top of it Confused

DD and I have found a stern 'stop it! you know you are not allowed to whistle' usually works Grin

SlowJinn · 30/05/2013 09:59

I have a co-worker who hums as she types, it's infuriating, I can't even name that tune in 30 minutes, because I don't think it's even a melody, just an annoying tuneless buzz, like a cross between and long drawn out grunt and a moan. I don't think she knows she is doing it.

limitedperiodonly · 30/05/2013 10:20

I worked with a man who'd shout bursts of songs at random moments. The more annoying, the better.

One of his favourites was Mambo No. 5. Try sitting next to someone who yells: 'A little bit of Monica...' 20-odd times a day and keeping your hands to yourself.

courgettesmuggler · 30/05/2013 10:29

Join in? That would probably make him stop or might make you both look a little bit Von Trapish...

Iggi101 · 30/05/2013 10:32

He is probably waiting for you to ask him why he's so happy. Maybe he has a new girlfriend.

minouminou · 30/05/2013 10:46

PMSL, Limitedperiod!

DP is a whistler, but somehow, everything he whistles goes through some 1940's filter and all I see is him in Brylcreem and a demob suit, even when he's whistling a Muse riff.

SacreBlue · 31/05/2013 08:38

No bathroom schedule but he did tell me we were going to have to have a 'talk' about my tea making skills Shock

This was quickly followed by a suggestion from me that he made his own damn tea Wink

Occasionally I enjoy music at work but only at a low level, people have to talk and I find if the music is loud, they are louder and occasionally the music lover then increases the volume just makes me wince

I also avoid bars/cafes/restaurants with loud music social misfit/old before my time Grin

arabesque · 31/05/2013 11:00

I have shared rooms with people who insist on having music on when other people are trying to concentrate on something; listen to their phone messages on speaker so everyone else has to hear them as well; and shout at the top of their voices when they're on the phone. Added to that there is the constant pinging, dinging, or loud shrieking tunes constantly emanating from people's mobiles.
Some people are just oblivious to people around them trying to work!

SacreBlue · 31/05/2013 22:02

Told him about thread and he said it irritates him in school too. We obviously all have very varied tolerances for noise levels. I bet there are folks out there who hate sitting in relative silence

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