I Edited This Title.

*Note: This post used to be titled differently, until I got sick of all the random blog hits I got from questions about women and whether or not they are able to whistle.*

I had a funny experience today. I'm widely recognized in my office (ok, as widely as you can be in an office of 5) as 'The Human iPod' because, essentially, I annoy the crap out of co-workers by humming and singing everything from oldies to lullabies to current Top 40s to my favorites (Dylan, Grateful Dead, etc.). ALL DAY LONG. So, it should come as no surprise that I bust out the ocassional whistle as well.

Or, should it?

I was in my office today, amusing myself with a little bit of 'If You're Happy and You Know It', whistled as I worked. My office is at one end of the hall, and at the other end is one of my fabulous co-workers, who moved to the U.S. in the 90s from Jordan. English is his 2nd (perhaps 3rd?) language, so things like our other co-worker's catchphrases ("Goad a sleeping bear", "Bird-dog it.") sometimes have to be explained in layman's terms. One day, he even came into my office with a peach yogurt, and told me it was "Peach for the peachy." Upon further exploration of this statement, I realized he was complimenting my typically sunny demeanor (here is where my husband laughs his ass off).

So you can see why, when I walked by his office whistling merrily, his comment may have taken me off guard. For, when I heard him say to me, "You whistle like a man, Katie.", my first thought was "Well, clearly he didn't mean that."

I stopped abruptly, pivoted on one foot, and said, "I whistle like a what?". He repeated his statement, and I stood there, still and unsure what to say next. Did I ask for clarification? Smile and keep walking? Pretend to understand?

Just then, my other co-worker, another girl, piped in, "I can't whistle at all. You're really quite good."

"Yes," assured Mr. Jordan, "that is what I meant. Everytime you start to whistle I think it is insert name of other male co-worker, but then I realize it is you. Most women do not whistle so well. You whistle like a man."

Huh. I was still not sure how to take this piece of...news?...so I just started to laugh. I suppose maybe that sort of behavior earned me the peachy moniker. Mr. J then assured me that it was a compiment, a good thing indeed that a woman should whistle like a man, for most women, it seems, cannot whistle much at all.

Later, insert name of other male co-worker here came into my office and handed me a sticky note. "Google this man." he said. And google I did. It seems I was now being compared to Ron McCroby, a famous jazz whistler. Observe, and then nod your head and smile, pretenging all along that I could possibly be anywhere NEAR as happening as this cool cat ::snap, snap::



:::jazz hands:::