Noises.

There are many noises that are not tolerated at work. Sighing, yawning in the middle of a meeting, and any sort of tapping and whistling. Whistling is the worst. I have a lot of whistlers at my work. My work is full of old men, so I don’t expect much less.

Seems like everybody that has a “noise” has their own spin on it. There’s “Pat” who always makes a “du du du” before he’s about to go somewhere outside of his office. There’s “Bob” who always likes to cruise the halls whistling...makes you wonder what he has going on in his office because he’s so happy. **

And then there’s the office sigh-er. I have been known to let out a few big sighs in my time. For me, when I am really annoyed or just been given a daunting task that I don’t want to do, it’s inevitable- I let out a big ol’ sigh. A sigh that can be probably be heard down the hall. I don’t like when I sigh, and I sure as heck don’t like hearing people sigh.

This got me thinking- what is a sigh? Through some fast internet research, I have confirmed that a sigh and a yawn are not the same thing. Sighing can be a response to low oxygen and high CO2 in the body. Sighing increases the amount of air entering the lungs. Infants often do this while sleeping. Adults do this sometimes after a long period of low-volume, tidal breathing. Sighs are also emotional responses to a number of situations. (THIS IS ME.)

Sighs can express longing or yearning or wistfulness or relief or disappointment or even pleasure. (Even pleasure? I don’t remember the last time I sighed when I was told I could leave work early and go to happy hour…) Sighs are also a relieving of stress. So we now know why people sigh… but why whistle?

It’s always the old crackahs too.

This brings me to today. I was working on a project and heard someone coming down the hall tapping. For some reason the only thing I could tune into was this annoying “tap.” Every whistler that passes my door is met with a dirty look, so I already had my “dirty look” on for the “tapper.”

Well, you would never believe who it was- the president of our company. I gave him such a dirty look, I should be packing up my office right now. Thankfully, he busted out laughing and said, “you look really annoyed.” I said, well, all I can hear is your tapping, but since it’s you, it’s okay.

Thank goodness that was the worse of it. I will now start saving my dirty looks and become more aware of the sounds I make. I know for a fact I sigh… and I also know that I let out this one loud laugh numerous times during the day. It’s not a cackle…it’s just a HUH! I can only imagine how many people I annoy. TGIW and thank goodness it’s a 3-day weekend.

**Names were changed for my protection.