Unsettling numbers
4 Aug 2010 11:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wayfaringwordhackYesterday, I had to have some blood work done and was at the lab for 2.5 hours. During that time, I saw 49 people come and go (not counting lab techs and secretaries, of course).
Amongst the 49:
- Four people flipped through magazines provided by the lab.
- One person brought her own book.
- One person brought his own newspaper.
So, 6 out of 49 people had something to occupy them. The other 43 just started blankly at the walls. The clinic was busy and the wait times long, but people preferred to sigh and stare. Many of them, I gathered from overheard conversations with the techs, were "regulars" at the clinic, and yet they had no desire (or thought?) to bring something to help them pass the time.* I found that sad.
Then, at the grocery store, being pregnant and therefore the owner of a compressed bladder, I had to make use of the ladies room.
I saw three ladies coming out of stalls and only one washed her hands. :-/
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* Personally, I took my crochet, knowing I would make good progress with so much time to kill--I did; four squares. (Six total yesty, so I'm 1/3 done with Little Bean's blanket...if you don't count the time it will take to sew the squares together. I worked on the niece's blanket, too, but it was one step back and two steps forward. I'm not going to have enough white yarn to finish, so I had to change the design a little bit, which meant ripping out a row and a half of stitches.)
Amongst the 49:
- Four people flipped through magazines provided by the lab.
- One person brought her own book.
- One person brought his own newspaper.
So, 6 out of 49 people had something to occupy them. The other 43 just started blankly at the walls. The clinic was busy and the wait times long, but people preferred to sigh and stare. Many of them, I gathered from overheard conversations with the techs, were "regulars" at the clinic, and yet they had no desire (or thought?) to bring something to help them pass the time.* I found that sad.
Then, at the grocery store, being pregnant and therefore the owner of a compressed bladder, I had to make use of the ladies room.
I saw three ladies coming out of stalls and only one washed her hands. :-/
_____________________________
* Personally, I took my crochet, knowing I would make good progress with so much time to kill--I did; four squares. (Six total yesty, so I'm 1/3 done with Little Bean's blanket...if you don't count the time it will take to sew the squares together. I worked on the niece's blanket, too, but it was one step back and two steps forward. I'm not going to have enough white yarn to finish, so I had to change the design a little bit, which meant ripping out a row and a half of stitches.)