Wrong Direction

erikah(83)

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The Pub

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959

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5 min

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Last month I had to accompany my dad to the doctor, to have some medical procedure done, therefore I had to spend some time in the same waiting room, twice. We've been informed previously about what to expect, so I showed up prepared.

No one was there because they were bored at home or they had no place to go. I spent two and a half hours on two occasions, three weeks apart and tried to use my time wisely as time is a precious commodity. I had a book and managed to read half of it the first time and almost the other half the second time. It was a book about trading, not a novel that entertains you for an hour or two, so I had to focus to understand and also learn what I was reading.

It was an exercise for me as well, a training to ignore and shut out the noise. The first time I did an excellent job at it, (I have to pet myself on the shoulder for that). The second time it was a bit more difficult as the challenge was bigger.

Photo by Marco Grosso on Unsplash

People came and went, I was the only constant person in the waiting room, which is why people next to me were constantly rotating. Some of them were really disciplined and showed a respectful behavior, which I appreciate a lot, while others could not give a damn about what's going on around them.

There was a man in his early 60's who thought playing candy crush with audio set at maximum was the right thing to do. Lucky me he was up in 5 minutes and I got my focus back, but then another man in the opposite corner of the waiting room thought sharing his entire medical history with the lady next to him in a way so everyone can hear it, is what one has to do. At some point it looked like a contest of who can speak louder in the waiting room and the receptionist had to step in and ask them to lower their voice and give some respect to the others.

Photo by Elena Malinina on Unsplash

Not long ago I came across an article on X saying Singapore is going to fine people playing loud music on public transportation vehicles and they are following Poland in this regard, where this rule took effect earlier this year. Most likely such rule exist in other countries too, or it's going to be set up in the upcoming future as it looks like it is needed.

It's sad to see where we stand in this regard and I bet there are only a handful of nations where people don't need to be threatened with such fines to do the right thing.

Photo by Becky Sherburn on Unsplash

Honestly I will never understand this selfish behavior. It's incomprehensible how can people speak about their private life and most intimate details of their health knowing everyone can hear them. Even worse if they do this on purpose and find joy in it. Privacy is an unknown term to them it seems and if they don't value theirs, at least they should give some respect to the other participants in the room.

I was sitting in my chair and whenever someone new set down next to me, I could see from the corner of my eye that they were looking at my book, trying to figure out what I was reading. The funny thing was it was and English book, so they gave up staring at it the next second as I bet none of them spoke the language.

Photo by Mavis Hopper on Unsplash

It's 2026, we don't live in the stone age or middle ages anymore, it's common sense to sit down quietly, shut your mouth and even if you speak to the other person, keep your voice down as no one is interested in what you want to say. Everyone has enough problems on their own, no one needs yours. Same goes to playing your music loudly on public transport vehicles or public spaces.

If you make a list of the little things happening every day, individual incidents, like a man throwing his cigarette on the ground, the other that is vocal about why the mother with a baby has the right to skip the line at the store, another who can't be bothered to offer their seat to an old man with a walking stick, the one that cheats you at the farmers market, the driver that cuts you off at the crossroad, the one that watches the old lady struggling to get off the bus and not helping, it all adds up. If everyone would do their part and help a person or two every day, this world would be a better place.

Photo by Denis on Unsplash