Whistle while you work, but the radio offers a better playlist

  Jason the electrician had holes cut in the living room ceiling. The recessed LED lights were ready to be installed. He stopped to make sure I knew what he was doing, that everything was correct, and his tarps were in place.

  All the while, the radio churned out country music. No problem.

  I don’t listen to country or western music, but I don’t begrudge Jason from listening to tunes that might motivate his work or lighten his tasks. He is one of thousands of essential workers each day who enter homes for contracting jobs while injecting a bit of their personality.

  My experience is that contractors follow a general code of ethics. Be courteous. Keep your work area clean. Rule No. 1 seems to be – “respect and follow the wishes of the residents.’’

  It seems that every laborer who has worked at our house for a few days has brought a radio. The sound wasn’t deafening, but it was loud and clear so that they could hear it while they shuffled from room to room, hammering, lifting, hauling, cutting, nailing and painting.

   Jason was no exception. He brought his red, Milwaukee Tool radio with a rechargeable battery. Who knew that toolmakers like Bosch and DeWalt had their own line of radios. My only regret is that Jason didn’t play Ella Fitzgerald, Carlos Santana or the Clancy Brothers.

   When 730 U.S. contractors were surveyed about their radio policy, four out of five said they had no policy. Ear buds are a possibility, but could create issues if workers can’t hear the surrounding environment, or a nuisance if they pop out often. Jason said the general rule is to keep the homeowner happy, but it doesn’t always work that way.

   “One guy I know listened to hard rock music and the customer absolutely hated it,’’ he said.

   Jason relayed how the worker was a devoted fan of a syndicated morning shock jock show, Rover’s Morning Glory. “It can be really raunchy. They talk about anything and everything (profanity, sex, dirty tricks and more profanity). This homeowner was super religious and she just ended it.’’

  I heard a similar story from an unnamed North County relative in Florida (he requested anonymity, probably fearing the paparazzi?).

  “Just after we finished this house,’’ he recalled, “the guy across the street walks over and says, ‘Thank God you’re done. I was so tired of that (nationality deleted) music.’ ’’

My relative didn’t have to say “intolerant’’ or “racist jerk,’’ but it was understood.

  I’ve never had to endure that. A different Jason, the tile man from Kilkenny, Ireland, did a super job applying a herringbone backsplash in our kitchen over two days, all while listening to a talk show about the English Premier League. They play football, not soccer. At least, I think it was – I never heard any references to “Welcome to Wrexham’’ or “Ted Lasso.’’

  Bob the painter was a sports fanatic. He worked steadily and expertly on a fireplace surround and shelving amid a din of talk show callers in this style – “This is Frank the Hammer. I’ve got a solution to the Bills’ lousy run defense.’’

  Sure, Frank the Hammer. When you’re not busy giving yourself a nickname, I’m sure you’d struggle to tell the difference between an A-Gap and a B-Gap, or maybe your ABCs, but keep talking. The radio station will sell ads during gaps in your inane commentary.

  My roofer executed a complete tearoff, then installed a new roof to the click-click-click of his nailgun, all while blaring the late Rush Limbaugh’s conservative ideology from the rooftop. As a progressive thinker, long before “woke’’ became the trendy word among right-wingers, I left the neighborhood for a few hours.

  Jason will be back for a few more days. His radio is charged and the country music will flow. I can handle Garth Brooks or Zac Brown Band. I’ll cringe when Carrie Underwood belts out her entitled revenge song, “Before He Cheats.’’ But I’m drawing a line in the sand – make that the rug we are about to rip out – if I hear something preposterous by Thomas Rhett. He’s the guy who recorded “Beer with Jesus.’’