Waiting Rooms

I think waiting rooms were invented so God could give us a sneak peek of what hell may be like. This is what I was thinking as I sat with my husband in the ER waiting room last Monday. Our day started out going to a doctors appointment for Monty at about 11a.m.. He had been having bad abdominal pains for about three days. After an examination the doctor encouraged us to go to the ER so they could do further test and make sure it wasn't anything serious. We had no idea at that time what a long day we had ahead of us.
I would like to think that I have a general love and compassion for others. But all that was coming forth for the majority of the people around me was annoyance, disgust and a feeling of nausea. The man to my left looked as if he hadn't showered in a good month. He apparently had a case of chronic hiccups. They came every 5 seconds. It was a little like what Chinese torture must of been like. You slowly start to go crazy hearing the sound "Heeeep!, Heeeep!" in a high pitched tone over and over. After about an hour he fell asleep thank goodness. Behind me was a women who felt the need to talk loud enough for everyone in the hospital to hear. She had something wrong with her foot and hobbled over to triage to yell at the nurse that she was not being seen fast enough. She was unsatisfied with the response she received from the nurse and hobbled back to her seat *itching about it the whole way. Then we had a guy who dressed like a pimp with an oversized jacket, huge sunglasses and a hat come in with his Russian girlfriend. They apparently didn't understand that you couldn't sign in and then leave the ER for a few hours without losing your spot in the calling order. We had at least three different people with barf buckets. Which just looking at the buckets is enough to make me gag. But then when they really started to puke I had to plug my ears to not cause a ripple effect. I started to fear I would get sick just from sitting in the waiting room. After 2 1/2hrs. Monty was called into triage. Finally we were going somewhere. Right? Wrong. There was not enough room in the ER to accommodate everyone. So after 10 minutes of being checked out we got sent back out to hell. They would continue for the next 5 hours to treat and test Monty and the majority of the other People from the waiting room. I'm not sure how Monty endured this, he wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything nor was he given any drugs to numb the pain. By the time evening came a whole new group of people with different ailments came in. A big tall white guy with a shaved head brought his daughter in to go see his wife who was one of the few who were given a room. As soon as he was told that they couldn't see her together he pitch a HUGE fit. Profanity was flying all over the place out of this mans mouth. Apparently he was concerned enough about his eleven year old daughter that he wouldn't leave her alone with the nurses but swearing and showing ample amount of disrespect to the ER staff was just fine for his daughter to be present for.
On the flip side of hell I did see some good things. Across from me was a white haired woman in her mid 80's accompanied with two friends. They assisted her in and out of the ER and stayed with her the entire time she waited to be treated. I watched them tell jokes and laugh with each other. I admired their friendship and hoped that when I reach that age I will have good friends who I can laugh with and stand by me when I am in need. There also was a couple who were probably in their forties. The women obviously felt very ill. Her husband was so tender with her. He was constantly comforting her and making sure she was well cared for. I also saw a young mother with her a sick child, a couple who looked like they were expecting their first child. A women with her elderly mother who seem to be suffering from alzehiemers. It was endearing to watch these people take care of their loved ones.
As I watched each of these people I wondered what their stories were. Why they were there and how they got there. What kind of family life they came from. I guess in the midst of disgust for my surroundings I did still have some compassion for the people around me. Even though all these people had different packaging on the outside and different ways of expressing their worries, they were all there for the same reasons. To be seen, heard, listen to and cared for.

In the end after all the test were done, Monty was sent home with pain killers and some antibiotics. He has a condition called Diversticulitis. So after sitting in Hell for 9 hours he was basically told to take these pills and drink water and eat more fiber. The good part of all this is that even though our surroundings were not optimal Monty and I did get to spend a lot of time together. Hopefully we will not be returning there for another date anytime soon.