Hospital Waiting Room

I spent the better part of yesterday waiting in a hospital waiting room. My poor wife was undergoing a procedure in the short stay surgical unit. There probably isn't a worse place to be for everyone involved, except in the surgical unit itself as the patient. I am not a people watcher and I think I rank pretty low on the "Emotional IQ" scale, however, I did take good notice of everyone there. There was another gentleman who, like me, was trying to work as a distraction, he really wasn't doing any better than I was. An older gentleman, waiting for his wife, nervous about her outcome. A mother waiting for her daughter. Another mother with a bored teen-aged son. It was obvious that at his age he could not understand the seriousness of everyone there, and has not developed the ability to focus his attention into situationally-appropriate behaviour. We all sat around making small-talk about the big news issue of the day. We live outside of Philly, so it was the Terrell Owens situation. We waited and waited. All things being equal, we were not there long, just over an hour for most of us, but it did seem like forever. It was a good day for everyone there. All of our loved ones had successful outcomes from their surgeries, while certainly everyone's lives are a little different from what happened that day, I am thankful that God was watching over everyone there.