Yesterday I took Andy back to the doctor for his post-surgical check.  We found ourselves waiting for quite a spell in the reception area.  The chairs were mostly full when we arrived.  Every time the nurse would come out with a chart everyone would look up expectantly, hoping their name would be the one called.  As we were sitting there I found myself watching the others and wondering about them. 

Why did that woman over there have two surgical shoes on?  Did they really operate on both feet?  How did they expect her to get around?  When she was called back she struggled to stand and very slowly made her way back using crutches.  Why didn’t she have a wheelchair? 

That man across from us, reading the hunting magazine.  Is he a hunter, or just bored. He has a walker next to him.  Did he hike all over hills and valleys looking for game, and in the process wreck his knees? Did he have knee surgery? The nurse called his name and he promptly rose, lifted up his walker like an oversized umbrella and strode back to the exam room. Hmmmm…….

Then there were the cell phone talkers.  What a fascinating exercise, trying to put a story to the one-sided conversation that you can hear.

            “Where did I tell you to be?...........Then go there and do the same thing as yesterday.”

Where was that person supposed to be?  What kind of things were they supposed to be doing?  The tone was too much like an order to be nice, or friendly.  What kind of hold does this person have on the unseen one?

Another one:

“Did you do your homework? ………then empty the cat box out and get rid of the hamster.”

Did I just hear that correctly?  Get rid of the hamster?  Did the hamster die, or is it just a naughty pain-in-the-neck beast worthy of being tossed.  And what about the cat box?  Is this a litter box or a box where they keep the cat?  Did the cat have anything to do with the hamster?

 The next time you find yourself waiting in line or in a doctor’s office, I highly recommend you try this game of imagination. It can be highly entertaining and before you know it your name will be called.  Then the speculation can begin about YOU. 

(Why does that big strapping boy need crutches?  Look at his loving mother…..)