March 20, 2008

The other day, I had to go to the doctor. Nothing big, I just had to get a physical form filled out. Nothing against doctors, I never am a big fan of doctor visits, so I only go when I absolutely have to.

I had my appointment, and I arrived just a few minutes before my appointed time. Got signed in and sat down to wait. Usually, the waits there aren't very long, but this time it seemed to be.

As one lady was leaving, she was walking with a walker, and another man in the waiting room offered to hold the door for her. She declined, saying she could do it herself. But then she asked where he lived, saying he looked familiar. He gave his name, saying that he is an alderman for the town there. Seemed rather sure of himself, too.

Once the walker lady left, Mr. Alderman started complaining to another waiting patient about how long the wait was taking. I hadn't thought too much of it, as the time for me had gone by pretty quickly. Mr. Alderman, who was there with his mother, then started giving the receptionist instructions on what to do with his wife when he came for her appointment that afternoon. Then Mr. Alderman sat down and complained about the time some more.

Eventually, they did call me, about 45 minutes after my appointment time. I guess I go to the doctor's office expecting to wait, so I wasn't too surprised. As I was going back, Mr. Alderman asked the nurse how much longer it was going to be, because he wasn't sure he could stay around and wait. Once I was in my room, I could hear the nurses out in the hall talking about him.

"It's only 10:00, and his appointment was for 9:45! Why is he already getting bent out of shape?"

I wanted to go back out and let him know how long I had been waiting, but I thought better of it. And I hoped for the staff that his wife was coming by herself.

The walls at the doctor's office are rather thin, so that you can hear a good bit of what else goes on around you. Mr. Alderman and his mother did get called back right after I did. And the doctor even did go in to see them before she saw me, so that they left before I did. No big deal for me, but I thought it was interesting how his complaining got him what he wanted.

The doctor came in to see me, looking slightly frazzled, and apologized for my wait, saying that they were backed up that day. I assured her that it wasn't a problem for me, and I wasn't upset at all.

I suppose he figured he was more important than those of us who had been waiting longer than he had. And apparently that works. Sometimes.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. - Philippians 2:3

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