Fun in the Waiting Room

Waiting rooms, like hotel rooms, can be great or terrible. Yet, when we select a physician or dentist, there is no handy reference available to predict the quality of the waiting room. If only I could pick a dentist or doctor whose waiting room carried a 4 star rating!

Today, I'm in a waiting room in Louisville. I cannot say that it is the best or worst I've ever been in, but it ranks as the most unusual. There is no sign of a human agent, no glass window or receptionist station. There is just an ominous door warning of radioactive materials. An electronic lock prevents entry by the patient.

I strongly believe people come to this waiting room and are never seen again. There are 87 magazines here, dating from
April, 2006, along with a selection of phone directories. I'll give this room extra points for having a TV, especially since I chose my favorite station and have hidden the remote in my purse. I once watched an hour of Dora the Explorer while enduring the chilling squeal of the dental drill in the next room. There is a cold water dispensing machine, and an extra waste basket that makes a dandy footstool.

What worries me is the great number of magazines and the 20-gallon backup water supply.

It looks like people wait a LONG TIME here. My guess is that once they go through the radioactive door they don't come back.

I'm going out the same door I came in, and although it's not the worst waiting room ever, it's the creepiest. I won't be back. Easy for me. I'm not even the patient!