I had to make that the title of this post because that's the comment my MeetUp friend said after a misophonia interaction that just occurred...
I've been working on my writing at our regular meeting place way before the meeting was scheduled to start and had an interesting experience right after the group leader arrived. He was just settling into our table when someone waiting in line across the room started whistling VERY loudly. (One of my biggest triggers.) I debated about whether or not I should ask the person to stop but finally went over to the man. I sheepishly said to him, "Can I ask you to not whistle? I have a medical condition and it really hurts my ears." He gave me a funny look but then said okay, and stopped. What surprised me was that he then said to me, "Thank you for asking," to which I replied, "Thank you for being so understanding." That's when the leader of my group, who knows about my misophonia, looked at me and said, "Good people!" That was a first for me! Not so much that he was willing to stop, but that he actually thanked me for asking him to do so.
What's funny is that after the man left, my friend looked at me and said he now had an earworm that's giving him the urge to whistle "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," since that's what the man was whistling. He was struggling because he wanted to whistle the song but knew that doing so would be very painful for me. What's weird is normally I like that song (when it's sung) but didn't even realize that's what the guy was whistling. I only heard the whistling sound and immediately felt my trigger response kick in. It didn't even hit me WHAT the song was, only that the whistling was torture to me.
Every now and then I'm pleasantly surprised at how compassionate some people in this world can be!
I've been working on my writing at our regular meeting place way before the meeting was scheduled to start and had an interesting experience right after the group leader arrived. He was just settling into our table when someone waiting in line across the room started whistling VERY loudly. (One of my biggest triggers.) I debated about whether or not I should ask the person to stop but finally went over to the man. I sheepishly said to him, "Can I ask you to not whistle? I have a medical condition and it really hurts my ears." He gave me a funny look but then said okay, and stopped. What surprised me was that he then said to me, "Thank you for asking," to which I replied, "Thank you for being so understanding." That's when the leader of my group, who knows about my misophonia, looked at me and said, "Good people!" That was a first for me! Not so much that he was willing to stop, but that he actually thanked me for asking him to do so.
What's funny is that after the man left, my friend looked at me and said he now had an earworm that's giving him the urge to whistle "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," since that's what the man was whistling. He was struggling because he wanted to whistle the song but knew that doing so would be very painful for me. What's weird is normally I like that song (when it's sung) but didn't even realize that's what the guy was whistling. I only heard the whistling sound and immediately felt my trigger response kick in. It didn't even hit me WHAT the song was, only that the whistling was torture to me.
Every now and then I'm pleasantly surprised at how compassionate some people in this world can be!
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