Confession time: who whistles in the car?

psychih · Post by **psychih** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 4:14 pm

I whistled in the car once and was told off by my mum. She was quite miffed that I'd do such a thing especially since she's driving

Whistling in the car can cause accidents to the whistler! Also whistled at the bus stop....and had smiles from fellow bus-people. Was really chuffed about that

~chih

vaporlock · Post by **vaporlock** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 5:29 pm

On 2002-10-22 04:45, nickt wrote:
Completely baffled. A few weeks ago there was a thread started by me old mate Martin Milner about mobiles (cellphones) being used in cars and mostly everyone piled in and said "dangerous, should be banned, I'd never do it" etc etc, but it seems that playing the whistle is okay! (Okay, playing at red lights or when parked is not the same).

I've never been cut off by somebody playing the whistle.

The other day I was passed by a teenage girl going down the freeway with both feet up on the dashboard.

srt19170 · Post by **srt19170** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 7:13 pm

I whistle at stoplights all the time. I get a lot of comments as well. (Although I've never had anyone recognize a tune -- or join in -- as people have related previously when this has come up.)

Coming out of the airport the other day and waiting to pay my parking fee, the woman in the adjacent lane rolled down her passenger-side window and waved frantically at me. She was on her cellphone and was shouting into it "The guy next to me is playing the flute!" Then she held the phone out to me and shouted "Play louder!" Of course I responded "It's a tinwhistle." I didn't bother to explain that there was no volume control.

-- Scott

skywatcher · Post by **skywatcher** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 7:50 pm

I whistle in the car while it's parked and I am waiting for my daughter while she's taking Irish dance lessons. Occasionally I will play a high whistle at stop lights. Low whistles are harder to quickly slap down when the light changes.

Kim in Tulsa · Post by **Kim in Tulsa** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 9:11 pm

On 2002-10-22 18:14, psychih wrote:
I whistled in the car once and was told off by my mum. She was quite miffed that I'd do such a thing especially since she's driving

Same with me and my husband...I started in on the Racks of Mallow and he got very grumpy and didn't speak to me for the rest of the evening.

Needless to say, I never play my Feadóg in the car when he's in it, anymore. I rarely play when he's in the house!

K

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 9:23 pm

Get a low whistle, Kim - it soothes the savage beast!

fiddling_tenor · Post by **fiddling_tenor** » Wed Oct 23, 2002 10:37 am

I keep a Little Black D and Mellow D in the car. But I only play when the car's not moving.

mandolin · Post by **mandolin** » Thu Oct 24, 2002 8:49 am

I don't drive a car - I'm more of a cyclist. I haven't yet tried playing the whistle whilst riding my bike, and I don't think it's to be recommended cycling in London - or any place subject to gravity, for that matter. I do often play in other peoples cars, although poor suspension and uneven road surfaces can make it difficult to produce a steady tone and keep the fingers in the right places. There have been incidences of nasty accidents involving whistles played in moving vehicles that have had to brake suddenly.

A favourite pastime of mine is playing the whistle(or indeed, mandolin)on the upper decks of double-decker buses late at night, usually on the way home from sessions. I usually only do it if I am the only passenger, but occasionally the urge is too great to contain, and I will play to a small incidental audience, provided they are seated suitably far away. On one occasion, I was playing alone upstairs, when the driver came stomping up the stairs - it is always a gamble, as you never know what sort of a person the driver is. Anyway, having reached the top of the stairs, he shouted, "Will you stop tapping your foot! It's putting me off my driving!" I wasn't even aware that I was tapping my foot. I suggested that I might sit at the other end of the bus, so that I would not be directly above the driver, to which his reponse was, "If you don't stop tapping your foot I'll throw you off the bus!" So I crossed my legs - thus rendering myself incapable of tapping my foot - and carried on playing quite happily.

Other places I would recomended for playing whistles are: Station waiting rooms, tube(for those that don't know - the London subway/metro)station platforms, stairwells, riverbanks, bathrooms(washrooms).

E = Fb · Post by **E = Fb** » Thu Oct 24, 2002 11:16 am

Hey Kim, I think Rakes of Mallow qualifies as "grounds". If played on a Susato it's considered justification for adultery in Italy.

E = Fb · Post by **E = Fb** » Thu Oct 24, 2002 11:16 am

Hey Kim, I think Rakes of Mallow qualifies as "grounds". If played on a Susato it's considered justification for adultery in Italy.

Tom

Post by **Dale** » Thu Oct 24, 2002 12:14 pm

OH MY LORD I am horrified. THIS is what happens when I let Knee Drivers Anonymous go to seed. I have told and told you people and this is the thanks I get. Let me walk through this with you.

You're driving holding a slender and probably metallic object in your mouth and said object is more or less pointing directly at the air bag. You have a little accident. The airbag deploys and causes the whistle to go into your mouth, impaling you in the region of the brain stem. Now, as I've said before, you need to trust me on this--I'm a doctor. Having your brain stem bisected will RUIN YOUR WHOLE DAY because you use it all the time. The only damage it will do, however, is to render you permanently motionless and unable to breath. So, it's time to re-start our chapter of Knee Drivers Anonymous right here, right now. That's right...I not only founded this network of recovering whistling drivers/driving whistlers...I'm a member. With 5 years of sobriety.

I'm Dale, and I'm a recovering Knee Driver.

Dale

Here's your brain stem. It's a terrible thing to waste.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: DaleWisely on 2002-10-24 16:04 ]</font>

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Thu Oct 24, 2002 12:18 pm

So what do you suggest Dale... a harmonica and holder?

U2 · Post by U2 » Thu Oct 24, 2002 12:54 pm

I've decided to stop whistling and talking on cell phones while driving at precisely the same time as cops stop using their radios while driving

. I don't want them boys to be hypocrites.

serpent · Post by **serpent** » Thu Oct 24, 2002 1:00 pm

On 2002-10-22 06:06, moishe wrote:
Whistling in the car is a lot of fun, but if you really want to enjoy it do what I did: get a tabor flute so you can play with one hand and keep the other on the wheel!

Or carry a roll of duct tape and "fix" your whistle by taping the top 3 holes shut! Thanks to BrewerPaul for the inspiration!
Cheers,

Bill Whedon

Kim in Tulsa · Post by **Kim in Tulsa** » Thu Oct 24, 2002 7:15 pm

On 2002-10-22 23:23, avanutria wrote:
Get a low whistle, Kim - it soothes the savage beast!

I'm afraid he'd snatch it from me and whack me over the head with it!

Just kidding, but just barely.

K