Watching The Sun Go Down In A Waiting Room

Posted on May 26, 2021 by purplepeninportland 
Written for:  Poets and Storytellers United
Weekly Scribblings #91:  Waiting  (posted by Rosemary)

"Write about waiting."


You put off securing
an appointment.  You call.
'There is no availability
for at least a month, but
you can always go to the
ER if you think it is
an emergency.'

Finally, your big day arrives.
You are on time, but perhaps
for someone else's appointment.
Waiting room is filled with 
peeved patients–foot tappers,
magazine flippers, and pacers.

An hour goes by.  They call
your name, like you are a
lottery winner.  A perky 
assistant ushers you into 
a room cold enough 
to store meat.  After vitals
are taken, you are left,
bereft of covering except
for a flimsy cotton garment.
When the doctor deems
enough time has passed–half
an hour–she enters smiling.
Now you have forgotten
why you are there, and list
of pertinent questions
cannot be found.  The doctor
doesn't  mind, she's on
her computer anyway, back
turned.

https://poetsandstorytellersunited.blogspot.com/

About purplepeninportland

I am a freelance poet, born and bred in Brooklyn, New York. I live with my husband, John, and two charming rescue dogs–Marion Miller and Murphy. We spent eight lovely years in Portland, OR, but are now back in New York. My goal is to create and share poetry with others who write, or simply enjoy reading poetry. I hope to touch a nerve in you, and feel your sparks as well.
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19 Responses to Watching The Sun Go Down In A Waiting Room

  1. Rosemary Nissen-Wade says:
    May 27, 2021 at 1:05 am

    Oh dear! Yes, I expect we can all relate. Though I’m glad to say, in this small town where I now live, service is not so impersonal.

    Like

  2. Helen L Dehner says:
    May 27, 2021 at 1:56 am

    Emergency rooms are the worst when it comes to waiting … five hours last time my son was there ~~ they almost killed him.

    Like

  3. oldegg says:
    May 27, 2021 at 5:52 am

    I’ve certainly seen enough of emergency rooms over the years. Hopefully getting transferred to the ward is the best result!

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  4. VJ Knutson says:
    May 27, 2021 at 2:12 pm

    Ugh! I can relate.

    Like

  5. Lisa says:
    May 27, 2021 at 3:06 pm

    Oh, yes! First that waiting room wait, and then the move into the examination room. That fools us into thinking we’ll be seen soon. The assistant takes our vitals, and then we wait. And usually that room has no magazines to look at! I keep a book of crossword puzzles in the car!

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  6. Jim says:
    May 27, 2021 at 3:36 pm

    That’s kinda like we are right now. We got here and hour early by mistake but then came to the wrong set of buildings. People there were very rude and didn’t know where we should be.
    So I got on the phone and called the number of the folk who made our reservations. She gave us driving instructions to where we should be. I would have sarcastically thanked the lady at the desk who couldn’t help us but she was gone.
    Now we are WAITING in the reception area, nice upholstered chairs for the reception desk to be ready for guests. Still a half hour away.
    My observations;
    1) read the invitation and then write CAREFULLY the correct time
    2) this place needs their help trained to treat us as elderly and be nice, at least not rude, to EVERYONE they run up against. I could have been the U.S. president and I doubt he/she would have received any friendlier treatment
    3) the last open house luncheon we attended was super friendly, there Mrs. Jim even won the Grand Door Prize.
    ..

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  7. Beverly Crawford says:
    May 28, 2021 at 7:16 pm

    Oh, I relate to this!! Those treatment rooms leave me claustrophobic and frozen. Perhaps they are meant to reduce us to that!!

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  8. Magaly Guerrero says:
    May 30, 2021 at 12:26 am

    I’ve been lucky the last few years. No, not about having to wait (often while freezing) that happens to all of us, I think. But I’ve been lucky when it comes to attentive doctors. But goodness, a few years ago, I seem to get all the inept and inattentive doctors the VA had to offer. I got a lot of writing done in waiting rooms.

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  9. Kestril Trueseeker says:
    May 30, 2021 at 12:05 pm

    I’ve been lucky that my visits to ERs have been rare, but I can imagine how extra chilly it would feel when I was already anxious to be treated like an item to be processed.

    Like

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