When was the last time you sat in a waiting room that didn't have a TV in it? Or maybe there was a TV on, but the volume was too low to actually hear it. Did you sit there feeling a little stupid as you watched a silent picture? Feeling only slightly less stupid realizing that the person in the next seat over was watching the silent TV too?
This was my very odd experience last week at my dentist's office.
To get to the point of this post... TV or not, when was the last time you sat in a waiting room without pulling your cell phone out to check for a text, or to simply help you pass the time?
This past week I challenged myself to do just that. Just sit. In a waiting room. For an undetermined amount of time without distracting myself with my phone.
I didn't last more than five minutes before sheer awkwardness drove me to finally dig my phone out of my purse. It wasn't boredom that made me look for my phone. It wasn't that I felt compelled to check on something. It was simply that I grew overwhelmingly awkward sitting in a silent waiting room, in the midst of people also sitting there - most on their phones.
It didn't used to be this way. I can remember years ago sitting quietly, maybe closing my eyes to deepen the experience of soaking in the quiet. I remember when life was busy with kids and their activities, having occasions to sit alone, quietly in a waiting room and actually enjoying it. I remember sometimes carrying a book with me if I expected to be waiting for very long. I remember picking up magazines on a nearby table to glance through, and once (at a dentist's office) I even remember when the receptionist offered to make a copy of the article I was reading. I guess she noticed I was engrossed when I was called back more quickly than I expected to be.
This week, in the waiting room of a lab, there weren't even magazines.
The Quest Diagnostics waiting room I have had the experience of visiting in recent years is a sadly stark space. I don't think there is a window to look out of. No music. There is definitely no TV. There isn't even a person whose job it is to check people in. Even that little bit of activity can at least give one the opportunity to people-watch without looking obvious or rude. All that is in this dreary waiting room are chairs around the perimeter (that on this day were mostly full), and a kiosk awkwardly placed across the room from the door - just waiting for the next person to walk in and across the gray-carpeted floor to check him or herself in. Watching the back of someone silently checking himself in on a touch screen doesn't make for very interesting people watching.
So I looked around, smiling if someone made eye contact. Finally, folding my arms over my purse I began to hopelessly look at the walls for something my eyes could land on. There were three pieces of paper tacked to a bulletin board close to where I sat, but the print was so small I couldn't read them without getting up and going to see what was printed on them. They didn't look interesting enough to bother.
I shifted my body. I changed my gaze. I looked at the carpet. Then, glancing in different directions, I tried not to look shifty.
Feeling shifty, I closed my eyes. Having nothing at all to listen to, I felt odd sitting like that - imagining I looked like I was praying. Which would have been a perfectly fine thing to do, but I was so overcome by my awkwardness actually praying didn't even cross my mind.
Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore. I opened my eyes and pulled out my phone.
I checked for texts. Nothing there.
I texted a friend (a few years ago, I began texting one long-distance friend whenever I found myself in a waiting room - I thought it was a unique genre of texting, even if it was a little weird).
She didn't reply.
Since I didn't have earphones, I couldn't watch a video, so I googled something. I have no memory of what inane thing I typed into the search box. What I remember was how disappointed I was in myself that I didn't have the fortitude to not pull my phone out and pretend I had something interesting to do on it. I had failed the challenge.
Setting aside, for a minute, my utter disappointment in myself, I'm suddenly remembering I have Solitaire on my phone. And some word game. I rarely play games on my phone, so it didn't even occur to me. Is that what other people are doing on their phones when they look completely immersed in something fascinating?!? I've always assumed other people have gobs of friends or family texting them. Or I've figured they might be doing some important work on their phone.
Are they actually just playing games?!?
In my next post, I'll explain where this topic has sprung from, but for now, seriously... when was the last time you just sat silently in a waiting room, not watching TV, not playing on your phone? Instead, just sitting with your thoughts. I'm sure a few of you have. But no worries if you haven't, or have no desire to. It's just a question. A serious question. But not one with any criticism implied.
While I failed on my last attempt, I'm already looking forward to the next opportunity I have. I am determined to succeed.