Waiting Rooms - My Haven from Reality By: Lisa Pallardy
 
I got my oil changed today! Now, to most people, this might not seem like a sentence that should end with an exclamation point. However, most people don’t have six children. I also end sentences like “I have a pap smear today!” and “I get a root canal today!” with exclamation points.

Now, don’t get me wrong. It isn’t the oil change or the pap test or the pulling of teeth that causes me to be so happy. It’s the time I get to spend in the waiting room. The peaceful escape from the otherwise chaotic existence that defines my life.

I’ve read and heard about so many people who complain about this waiting period. There have been articles written and emails forwarded about people who actually send invoices to their doctors for the time spent sitting in a waiting room, or people who deduct dollar amounts from doctor bills equivalent to the hourly wage that person believes he or she is entitled to have been paid for his or her time spent waiting.

But as a work-at-home mother with six children, I say “Can’t that lady over there go first? I haven’t quite finished reading this article about Angelina and Brad. I’ll just be another five or ten minutes.”

I have actually always kind of felt this way about waiting rooms, even before my husband and I decided to take over the task of populating the earth. I think most businesses go to a great deal of trouble and expense to make waiting rooms cozy, and the trend is getting better each year. Take magazines, for instance. Where else (besides the library) do you have such a wide selection of magazines at your disposal? Fashion, pregnancy, tabloids, relationships, hunting, cars. It’s a veritable free-for all. Sometimes the hardest part is deciding which magazine to read!

Don’t want to read? Then how about television. And I’m not talking Disney Channel or Cartoon Network…..I’m talking NEWS! Really! News! I so rarely get to sit down and watch the news, that this is another one of those words I like to end with an exclamation point. And the news channels not only give you never-ending insight into the top stories of the day, but, apparently understanding that we are a nation of multi-taskers, the television news programs also have a scrolling bar (sometimes more than one) that let you know about stock prices and other top news and weather stories. All news. All the time. Ahhhhhhh.

Oh, and, please, let’s not forget the refreshments. The car dealership where I got my oil changed today had a wonderful selection of coffees, teas, even hot cocoa! There was a basket filled with mini muffins --- poppy seed, blueberry, even apple-walnut (I know, I tasted them all!). The black leather chairs were big and cozy, and the flat-screened, wall-mounted television was quietly playing the news to an audience of one (that would be me).

Yes, oil changes, pap smears, root canals….bring ‘em on! All completely uninterrupted by children tattling on one another. All completely uninterrupted by children asking for another snack, or climbing on the kitchen table. All completely uninterrupted by children fighting over the remote control, or flushing important objects down the toilet. What’s not to love?

I actually considered asking the mechanic to go ahead and put a new engine in while he was at it…..I was in no hurry.

Lisa Pallardy is a mother to six terrific children and a crazy dog named Sammy. She is also the owner of www.BarkTalk.com specializing in New Puppy Announcements, as well as gifts for dogs and dog lovers.

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