"if it's good news, it must be someone else's"

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

563. the no-tune whistler

there is one in the office.
he walks about silent until he approaches some one.
then he breaks into a happy whistle as he passes, as if the world couldn't be a brighter place.
but if you listen, it's no tune anyone knows, and besides, i'm suspicious of all the happiness, especially in this joint.

so i asked, hey sidney, that's not a tune your whistling is it? it's just a bunch of happy notes, right?
sidney stopped and thought and then he said, you're right, it isn't a tune. that's weird. i whistle it all the time. but it is happy, isn't it?
then i said, no, not really. it's sad quite honestly. you're a non-tune whistler.
then he said, gee, well thanks for bringing it to my attention.
then off he went, whistling the same dumb notes that don't make a tune, but slowly and with one new note i recognized.
a note of uneasiness.
then i turned to walk away whistling the happiest non-tune notes i could string together.

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