‘Wait Training 101’

My little poem “Wait Training” came into my head yesterday, as we signed up for the ultimate ‘wait training’ course in the Brockville General Hospital Emergency room.  After checking in, and my husband being assessed by the nurse, we joined the line for the free course that was running – and filling up quickly – in the waiting area.  It’s an interesting concept – learning how to build up our ‘wait’ muscles.  Of course, not realizing how intensive and time consuming the course would be, I neglected to bring along adequate equipment – in the form of a good book.  It turns out that had I brought along ‘War And Peace’, I could have finished it and done a short presentation for everyone!  I instead had to find alternatives to sinking within myself, or a book:  I quietly observed the real problems that the other participants were enduring.  Some seemed to have a handle on their ‘wait training’ and sat very patiently; others were not doing so well.  Bit by bit, conversations began, stories were shared, common threads were woven, and in between, I offered silent prayers for all of the good people around me who were sidelined by various crises.  A mother coping with a possible dislocated bone in her shoulder was actually keeping everyone, including her two children, entertained by her interactions with them.  Others with broken bodies were making the best of their situations and trying to help her out – the Christmas Spirit was still making itself felt, even as the staff were removing the decorations from the room.  At the end of the course, when my husband had been seen and a solution prescribed for his bronchitis, we left the ‘training room’.   I returned a few minutes later with a copy of my “How To Wash A Puddle” book for that lovely mother and her two patient children.  I wish her the best of luck – she passed the course with flying colours!