The doctor was late. A good 40 minutes according to my cell phone. Annoyed, I rattled my magazine (as if that would hurry things up).
Christmas was just days away and I had some serious shopping to do.
A man sitting next to me in this crowded waiting room seemed to be sleeping. His head lolled over to my side and I edged away from him as if he was contagious.
With a snort he woke up, reached in his pocket for a hanky and loudly blew his nose. I held my breath (to avoid breathing in his germs) and squeezed myself as far away from him as I could go.
A nurse entered the room, chart in hand, called a name; a woman stood up and followed her out. Then a different nurse called someone else. Yippee! This claustrophobic room was emptying.
Now I could move away from Sneezy into a seat someone had just vacated.
A few more minutes passed. People shifted about, sipping their coffee, turning pages, or getting up to use the washroom. No one spoke. Two others were called away and now there were just 3 of us. Sneezy (who'd fallen back to sleep), and a woman sitting across from me, her head buried in her cell phone.
Impatiently I checked the time again. It was almost an hour now! Then a thought popped into my head. I wonder if we were all waiting for the same doctor?
Well, if that's the case, then I'm going home! I don't feel like sitting around all day! Besides I was getting a little nervous about the whole procedure. This appointment was for cosmetic skin care - not medical and I didn't have to be here. What if the doctor made a mistake on my face? Maybe I should just go home.
What should I do? Get up and walk away? Or just ask?
Should I ask the lady which doctor she's waiting for?
No, that would be rude and nosy. Besides, she might ignore me. Or tell me to mind my own business.What about Sneezy/Sleepy?
Forget it.
Nothing happened.
Then I made up my mind. Really, what did I have to lose?
"Excuse me, are you waiting for Dr. K?
She looked up from her iPhone and answered.
"Oh yes, and she's always late! But worth it. I've been seeing her for years. She's so compassionate and does a good job. She knows what she's doing and takes good care of you."
"Oh!" I felt better immediately. "Thank you for telling me that."
Just then Sneezy/Sleepy woke up.
"I'm just waiting for my wife," he said in response to my questioning look.
Whew! Well then, I guess it's not so bad, I could wait a bit longer.
Ms. Cell phone and I began to chat - then something strange happened. I felt good, I felt fine, I was not grouchy or impatient.
We laughed. Even Sneezy/Sleepy joined in.
Ms. Cell phone was called in for her appointment.
SS and I continued our conversation. Turns out he lives not far from my son. And his children are attending university close by. My goodness we had something to chat about! Then all of a sudden Ms. Cell phone was waving goodby as she passed the waiting room to head out.
It was my turn!
But I was having fun - I wanted to stay and chat.
Wow - who would have thought? Just the simple act of reaching out and talking to someone had the power to change the whole situation.
Changed the energy in that room. A lesson? You could say that.
13 comments:
Hello Wendy! Happy New Year! So nice to see you stopped by my blog! Oh boy lots of changes with you last yr. in reviewing your posts! We all live in a fear of being judged by others, while the empty space between us is waiting to be filled by a simple gesture of honest caring. Once we reach out to people we realize this. Blessings to you !
What a great story! Too often we're wrapped in our own little worlds, but it's amazing what can happen sometimes when we reach out to strangers. A good lesson for all of us. I hope your new year is getting off to a great start, Wendy!
Great story and an important lesson for all of us. A little gesture of kindness can change the world!
Ah yes people love to be heard so ceating a chat time was well worth it.
As for doctors keeping people waiting too long , that seems a norm in too many cases now.
Hope all is well at your end.
I really enjoyed this post. It drew me right in. I felt like I was sitting in the waiting room.
A new follower;)
I love getting in a conversation with a stranger. You can learn so much from a random person, and they can learn from you. And that act of breaking the ice - it spreads some good will.
Lots of good lessons here!
Always worth striking up a conversation and adding a few smiles. I recently had to change doctors as my doctor of 35 years died suddenly. My new doctor has a reputation of always being late too, but I haven't had to wait so far. At least she has a nice comfy waiting room.
It is so frustrating when your appointment is not on time.
I have sat at the dentist waiting for over and hour because someone before me was late.
It just goes to show talking to a stranger can make all the difference.
Thank you for the lovely comment on my blog (more like the chapter from a book) a good read Wendy :)
Oh I did enjoy this post. At first I thought it was the beginning of a fictional book and wondered where it would take me. I do agree with others, a definite lesson to be learned and one that I'll be taking on board. Talking does us all good!
Hi Patricia - you made my day! I am a writer and you've just paid me the highest complement! I don't write fiction yet - still plodding away on a book about my grief journey and the signs of hope my beloved sends me from the Other Side. Non-fiction is what I write, but would love to do fiction one day.
Have a wonderful day!
So nice to see you blogging again, Wendy. I have been remiss in my blog visits or I would have known. ;)
It's so true that we can't necessarily change our circumstances but we do have the power to try and approach them differently. Your reaching out to chat certainly made all the difference. What a great reminder. And I sure hope your procedure went well. <3
Post a Comment