To the stranger whistling in the Lancaster, PA Panera bread - "I heard you!"
Yesterday I had a CW close encounter. We were running some errands, and my wife had used the Panera app to place a pickup order for a bagel. The Panera rewards card had earned us a free bagel every day for the month of April, so we were making sure to take advantage of it! When you order for pick up at Panera, your order ends up on a shelf, and you just pop in, grab it, and pop out again - if you're quick you can be in and out in about 30 seconds. It was during that 30 seconds that I heard a faint whistling coming from somewhere in the restaurant.
The sound triggered something in my subconscious that made me turn and look back over my shoulder as I dashed out the door. It wasn't until my feet hit the sidewalk outside that it dawned on me - the whistling was in a very distinct pattern:
Yesterday I had a CW close encounter. We were running some errands, and my wife had used the Panera app to place a pickup order for a bagel. The Panera rewards card had earned us a free bagel every day for the month of April, so we were making sure to take advantage of it! When you order for pick up at Panera, your order ends up on a shelf, and you just pop in, grab it, and pop out again - if you're quick you can be in and out in about 30 seconds. It was during that 30 seconds that I heard a faint whistling coming from somewhere in the restaurant.
The sound triggered something in my subconscious that made me turn and look back over my shoulder as I dashed out the door. It wasn't until my feet hit the sidewalk outside that it dawned on me - the whistling was in a very distinct pattern:
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Wait a minute - that's CW, and it was someone whistling CQ! I was on a bagel mission for the YL, so even though I strongly considered it, I didn't head back into the store to whistle back and figure out where it came from.
As we were driving away I was wondering who the whistling was meant more - was it meant for me? Was it pure conicindence? Was it actaully just someone whistling and because of all the time I've been spending learning morse code, I just heard something that wasn't actually there?
Then it dawned on me - I was wearing my 2015 Ham Radio Field Day shirt - there probably happened to be another ham in Panera who saw my shirt, and decided to "put out a call." Sorry I missed you! Next time I'll be prepared to whistle back!
As we were driving away I was wondering who the whistling was meant more - was it meant for me? Was it pure conicindence? Was it actaully just someone whistling and because of all the time I've been spending learning morse code, I just heard something that wasn't actually there?
Then it dawned on me - I was wearing my 2015 Ham Radio Field Day shirt - there probably happened to be another ham in Panera who saw my shirt, and decided to "put out a call." Sorry I missed you! Next time I'll be prepared to whistle back!
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