Patients

I had the occasion to go my PCP (primary care physican-for those of you without HMO's) recently. Have you ever noticed how quickly you become acquainted or familiar with the other people in the waiting room with you??

It was about 2:15pm on a Friday afternoon. I was the only one in the waiting room except an older white haired lady in a wheel-chair & her son. Now her companion was wearing wrap-around Oakley sunglasses, long hair, trucker hat, jeans, biker boots & reading a working mothers magazine. Not someone I would usually think I'd have much in common with.

I sit down & it's relatively quiet as I'm resting my head & eyes. Then I start hearing birds whistling. Not even like the ones you hear walking to your car outside. The annoying cartoon ones, like from when we were little. Those chirpy, high-pitched, sickeningly sweet ones. (these duragative adjectives could come from the fact I was rather moody & sickly)
I look around & biker son has noticed this too. Turns out there's a little tv on down at the other end of the waiting room & it's on Woody Woodpecker. He was pretty quick to turn that off & I guess I wasn't the only grateful soul because some receptionist behind the glass stuck their heads out & thanked him too.

He was nice enough. The lady I'm assuming was his mother. They looked alike and he showed such patience with her. It would be all quiet & she'd ask something of him out of the blue about a family member & of course talking loudly the entire time. She'd mumble part of her words & he'd say, "What hon?" It was rather sweet. He even asked when my baby was due. Nice enough guy.
Some other older man came in to change an appointment & was giving them fits up front & biker son & I exchanged knowing looks.

The other day I had a baby doctor appointment & a couple ladies in the waiting room struck up a conversation with me as we women do. But it's so funny to me how quickly you'll tell pretty personal things to complete strangers. Stuff you don't even phone & tell all people related to you! You bond over the funniest situations when waiting for doctors. People you probably wouldn't normally call up or may not be in your social circle. People you'll never see again.

Isn't it weird how you can know someone a matter of minutes out of your life. You don't know their religion affiliation, their voting record or what they even do for a living. (well okay depending on how much time you spend in the waiting room you COULD know such things) But you bond. You wish them good luck as they head in before you, you exchange magazines, somtimes you share snacks out of your purse for their whiny, bratty children they've forgotten to leave at home. The waiting room is almost like it's own little community for a brief period of your life. There are the people you stare at in disbelief & those you really seem to understand. Maybe that's what makes it easier to share things with them or just be comfortable with them. That one thing you both for sure have in common, you'll never see each other again. I mean you're not exchanging phone numbers or addresses. (unless you're really weird) There's no pressure to put your best foot forward or be worried about what they think.
Sure you sit there & wonder about who they are or what they are doing there etc. But there is less judgement on everyone's part than in life.

Hmmm, maybe that's what's wrong with the leaders of the world. They don't have to wait for anything anymore. Because of their high-up positions, when do you think was the last time THEY waited in a room for 45 min, only to go back & be weighed and brought down a notch or two??
Maybe we should lock them all in a waiting room, throw in some old back issues of TIME & see what happens. Peace treaties may not be so far away if we throw in a couple whiney kids.