The Waiting Room

I recently went to the hospital for a echo-cardiogram. One of my breast cancer drugs can do temporary damage to the heart. Luckily, it is leaving mine alone. That is great news, but not what we are here to discuss today.

That morning, as I approached the check-in counter/waiting room area of the heart center, I had to navigate through a lot of men just milling about. After check-in, it was time to sit - but there were no seats in the first 2 areas I scanned. Odd. So I head to the third area. All full but for one lone seat in the rear - and there I head.

Once seated, I dig out my book, and then the people of the room catch my eye. I am in a room packed full of only women. Then my brain starts putting pieces of the puzzle together.

Many of the men seated in the front room were similar looking to all of the men milling around. And all of the women in this room seemed to be together. There were a few younger ones, but most looked like the stereotypical Italian grandmother. Overweight, hair in a bun, semi-dowdy dress. What was going on? This wasn't a waiting room, it was a family reunion.

From the back corner where I was sitting, I grabbed my cell phone and acted like I was texting - but really, I was taking the following video. I knew I had to share this experience with others.

One of the nurses came out from the back and spoke to the woman closest to me. (How fortunate for my voyeuristic intentions.) Evidentially, the 50-ish people waiting around were family of a lady who was a patient in the back. She was doing OK for now and the family needed to move at least 15 people - all non-immediate family members - down to another waiting room.

A hand went into the air, her fingers snapped, and the younger ladies jumped up, a male family member appeared and he was instructed to move people. Despite the fact that all of the "grandmothers" sitting near me were probably not immediate family, not one of them moved even a miniature muscle in their face. Instructions for the normal family members do not apply for the matriarch generation. They do whatever the hell they want - and they weren't moving.

I did leave long before they did. I don't know what happened to their loved one. While I do hope that she was going to be OK - I do know one thing... If something did go wrong, and she happened to pass - the gathering after the memorial service would have included one insanely large, incredibly delectable spread that would have been worth crashing.