Chef whistling is a kitchen nightmare

DearAmy: I ama line cook in a restaurant kitchen. It is a loud, hot and dangerous environment.

I likemy job.

I like the owners and all my co-workers except for one. That one person is the chef of the kitchen.

I’m actively working on my own reaction to his behavior.

Unfortunately, I am becomingenraged aboutoneof his terrible habits. He whistles ALL THE TIME. If he’s not talking, he’s singing and if he’s not singing, he’s whistling.

Once I clocked him whistling one song for 17 minutes. I cannot block it out, it makes me so mad. How can I bring this to his attention?

It’s become a joke among my co-workers and theywill sing or whistle something around the chef to see if it “takes.” Sure enough, he’ll pick it up and whistle away.

I’m worried I’m going to blow! I don’t want to get fired.

What to do?— LineCook Dear Line Cook: A person whowhistles the sametune for 17 minutes nonstop might not be able to stop without great effort. This compulsive whistling might, in fact, be one behavior that helps to keep your chef focused and on-task.

One observation is that — these days — whistling while you work seems to be a potentially dangerous virusspreader.

You should work on your ability to control your reaction.

My own career as awaitress gives me a tiny bit of insight into the dynamic of a typical restaurant kitchen. You likely have very little influence. Exploding in rage would most likely NOT lead to a positive outcome for you.

You could try various techniques for tuning this out. Humming to yourself, or training your ear to tune into a different sound. This is called selective auditory attention.