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Enough Bad News, Let’s Have Some Good News for a Change
Casual interactions with strangers can be a powerful reinforcement for seeing the good in this world.
The waiting room outside the surgical holding area was pleasant but devoid of any hospital personnel. Chairs, tables, and couches were there, but no flesh-and-blood person to offer information, comfort, or any reassurance.
I was alone and had no idea how long the surgery would be. Someone I dearly loved was having serious surgery, but she was behind a locked door. So I waited alone in this large empty room.
Then an elderly couple came in, the man hunched, the wife looking stoic, They collapsed in the chair near me. We smiled, but no words.
The husband busied himself on his phone, while his wife pulled out hers, too. In muffled voices, they carried on conversations, her’s with an occasional laugh. How could they laugh? This was surgery?
The room was almost empty and the couple and I were left to consider the silence. A few calls on her cell and the woman slipped it back into her purse. Gazing over at me, she asked, “Are you hungry?”
“No, not really,” I responded.
