Radio in Doctors Waiting Room
I don’t like driving at night these days, as I get older I feel less confident about driving after dark. Consequently, when I had to make an afternoon appointment for the doctors, I chose the earliest possible, in this case it was 3.45 pm, a good hour before it starts getting dark in these winter months.
So I arrived early for my appointment just past 3:30. One of the more satisfactory new initiatives is the digital receptionist. I say this is more satisfactory because anything that avoids talking to the real human doctors receptionist is a blessing. So I tap the electronic touch screen with the month of my birth, the date of the month of my birth, and the first name of my surname. And low and behold it told me I’ve got an appointment in 5 minutes and that there were three people in front of me, and to take a seat in the waiting room. Somewhat aggrieved, because it is unlikely that those three people will be seen in the 5 minutes before my appointment, I go to the waiting room as instructed. At least I didn’t have to fight past the aggressive glare of the human receptionist.
I’ve not been in the waiting room at the doctor’s surgery for some time and the latest bit of mad ludicrousness is to have a radio playing and a sign saying ‘do not turn this radio off for reasons of privacy’. I suppose the intention is that having the radio going means that you can’t hear other people’s voices and conversations that they may be having with the receptionist (digital or human) the dispensary clinician.
However, whoever’s idea this was, it came from someone who clearly has little understanding of human nature (rather ironic at a doctors surgery). If you want to have a conversation, with the radio playing in the background, you speak louder, so that you speak above the radio, and clearly the three people waiting in front of me we’re having a conversation in competition with the radio, almost shouting at each other and definitely failing to maintain a level of discreet privacy.
Its ridiculous. Not only that everyone was shouting, but one woman was clearly determined to talk about the death of her mother who, apparently was very fit and well, until the day she died when she sat down after dinner and blood spurted out of her mouth, like projectile vomiting, and blood came from every orifice apparently and, unsurprisingly, she died. Now this was something I was not that delighted to hear about especially as she was speaking at such a high volume most of the people in the surgery could hear her.
Fortunately the first person to be called in out of the four of us that we’re now waiting was this woman with an unfortunate dead mother. However, this didn’t stop the remaining two people continuing to talk about the first lady who admittedly was speaking the loudest.
One of the symptoms of elderly people of course, is that they’re often little deaf. Inevitably, the remaining two elderly codgers were a little short of hearing and because of this they also spoke to each other louder than the radio.
Plucking up courage, I decided to go over to the receptionist and ask if the radio could be turned down but the digital touchscreen receptionist doesn’t answer such questions and there was no other human being present behind the desk, so I sat down again listening patiently until the second person was called in to the doctors.
Now there is just only me and one other person. I was determined not to speak so we sat in silence waiting for a good 10 minutes and it was now nearly 4:15 and getting quite dark and I’m getting more and more anxious. Finally, the last person before me is called in and I’m left alone in the waiting room listening to this damn radio
What I can’t understand is why the radio needs to be on when there’s only one person in the waiting room. Furthermore the radio is such a cheap, tinny, scratchy appliance, sounding hard on the ears even for the hard of hearing. I suppose they don’t have a more expensive one because that would probably get stolen, not least by somebody like me who would readily throw it into the bushes outside.
Before I was called into the doctors, I decided to change the channel from the innane ‘name the ancient pop-singer’ phone-in programme to something more civilised on Radio 4. But as I went to touch the radio a scream went up from the now human (?) receptionist,’DONT TOUCH PLEASE’. My hand shot back into my pocket as if I was never going to touch it at all . Where did the human receptionist pop up from? I have no idea. Lying hidden, in wait, ready to pounce on anyone daring or foolish enough to touch the radio, like a jumping spider catching its prey no doubt.
I eventually got into the doctors at 4:30 and of course it was dark when I left at 4:45
Stephen Peter Arthur Frean Harrison 