On Monday I had a 12:00 p.m. appointment at a hospital specialty clinic. It was a four week follow-up concerning a broken wrist suffered in a car accident eight weeks ago. It was 3:05 p.m. when I left the clinic. There was one doctor on call to look after thirty or more patients in the time span I was there.

One lady in the waiting room was very vocal about her displeasure regarding the long wait. Her appointment was for 11:40 a.m. and she was seen by the doctor at 2:00 p.m. Others had been waiting since 11:00 a.m.

As for me, I had an agreement with a Senior’s Ride Program that the latest return pick-up would be at 3:00 p.m. I was able to secure my ride home due to the kindness of my driver.

In spite of the inconvenience of such a long wait, and listening to the disparagement of a few disgruntled patients, I couldn’t help wondering about the exhaustion that lone doctor must have been feeling. It occurred to me that because he was so busy he didn’t even know how many people were playing the waiting game.