Don't Look At Me In That Tone Of Voice

   Lately I've been picking up on distinctive tones of voice.

   What I mean is, I've somehow developed the ability to hear specific tones of voice and to translate them, so to speak (no pun intended)

   One would think there would be as many different tones of voice as there are people, but I've been able to classify a few distinctive tones that are shared by several different groups of speakers.

   I've categorized these different groups like so:

   The salespersons tone of voice

   The foreman's tone of voice

   The announcer's tone of voice

   The parent's tone of voice

   The I've-never-had-kids-but-this-is-how-I'd-raise-them tone of voice

   The teacher tone of voice

   The instructor tone of voice (much different than the teachers)

   The police officers tone of voice

   The Doctor's tone of voice

   The Nurses' tone of voice

   The Judges tone of voice

   The cashier's tone of voice

   All of these can be sub-categorized further, such as with the announcer's tone of voice - the traffic update announcer's tone of voice is much different than the armchair quarterback sports talk show host tone of voice, and those are both vastly different from the political-agenda driven reporter posing as a public-interest reporter tone of voice.

   Individuals seem to possess many different tones of voice that they use situationally. I have friends who are parents that can use their "sternly-chastising-children-for-failure-to-perform-a-task" voice and minutes later use their "my-child-is-a-gift-from-god" voice, and seconds later switch to their "what-have-I-done-to-deserve-these-ingrates" tone.

   I have also experienced co-workers who comfortably use a "working-alongside-equals" tone of voice 99% of the workday switch to a "Man-you-would-not-believe-the-idiots-I-have-to-tolerate-at-work" tone the minute they are off said job.