Wednesday, February 11, 2009

whistle while you...

One of my deficiencies is that I am unable to whistle. At all.

This can be a problem when you’re working outside and you’re trying to get someone’s attention. It’s especially annoying if you’ve around drill rigs, construction equipment, or other noisy machinery. A nice, piercing whistle cuts through low-frequency rumbly noises in a way that shouting doesn’t. I usually have an emergency whistle buried in the bottom of my backpack, but that means that by the time I find it, I could’ve just gone up to the person.

I don’t have a terribly loud voice naturally, but over the years I’ve learned to do a passable field bellow that will carry a fair distance. Even so, what usually happens is that someone notices that I’m trying to attract another person’s attention, and they whistle for me.

I am pretty adept at duck calling using a blade of grass, but that’s a specialized skill most often used to amuse small children and international grad students. Maybe I should just graduate the “emergency” whistle to a dedicated pocket…

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