I went to the doctor this morning for a routine checkup of my blood pressure; and waddya know, it’s way up! I think being forced to sit in the waiting room for an hour and a half had a lot to do with that result. It came back down a few minutes later.
Anyway, there I am, the morning just dribbling away from me, and on the doctor’s-office TV channel they’re telling you how calamitous it is for your health to do a lot of sitting! Well we’re only watching this because we’re in a doctor’s waiting room, aren’t we! I mean, do you see a trampoline anywhere handy? A set of fencing foils? A couple of unicycles? What else do they expect you to do in a freakin’ waiting room?
And then tomorrow there’s the veterinarian’s waiting room! And beyond that the dentist, the eye doctor, and whoever else wants a piece of me.
Honest, I really am trying to finish the book I’m working on…
I’ve noticed that BP checks at the doctor are rarely, if ever, performed in a true resting state. Waiting, especially for 90 minutes, can’t help matters.
My wife Donna calls this WHITE COAT SYNDROME. I think it may be a documented condition. Her BP is always higher at the doctors office.
That’s what my doctor called it, too. I call it “highly cheesed off because I’m wasting so much time” syndrome.
Doctors’ waiting rooms should be declared a hazardous waste (of time) area. I once reread the first three books of “Paradise Lost” while waiting to see my doctor. I take only big books with me to doctors’ offices and auto service shops.
Waiting rooms are the worst. I usually grab a Bible and read the Proverbs which convict me of my impatience.