Waiting Room Reading

     FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16TH.

   WAITING ROOM READING!

      I stopped in a local clinic this
week to get some blood work done.
It was a busy day for the technicians
and it was pretty obvious I'd have to
spend some time waiting for my
turn. So I started to look for
something to read.
      Reading options in medical
waiting rooms are often limited.
If you're lucky you'll find a
newspaper. If you're very lucky
it will be that day's newspaper.
And if you are super lucky it will
be a section other than the
classified pages!
      There were no newspapers in
the clinic.
      Often you'll find magazines
in a physician's waiting room.
Usually they're magazines that
were originally mailed to someone.
But you never know to whom they
were mailed. Inevitably the mailing
label has been carefully cut out.
Thing is, I always wanted to read
those labels. Since the magazines
are usually related to the physician's
field of practice the labels would
have been the only thing that
interested me.
      The clinic had no magazines.
      I was left with three options.
I could sit, wait, and stare around
the room.
       I could attempt to read one of
two large charts outlining the so-
called "HIPA regulations." But
while the charts were large, the
print was extremely small and I
had neglected to bring a magnifying
glass with me.
      To be fair there's usually a TV.
The volume is generally turned
down. But many offices have the
Closed Caption turned on so at
least you can read what the people
are saying. Unfortunately the sets
are usually set on a channel that
features cooking instructions or
the weather. No thank you.
       Fortunately there was one book
on a table very close to my seat. And,
as fortune would have it, it was a
"classic." So it was I found myself
"reading" the Telephone Directory.
It was a few years old. But I'm
proud to say I'm in it!
        Hope I remember to bring
something along next time.....and
that all your NEWS is good!