Hear Jim’s 3-minute podcast on youtube: https://youtu.be/lnIK8aO2Dc8

or read his manuscript below:

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Life, actually…

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NOTES WHILE WAITING IN WAITING ROOMS

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Waiting Room One: I sit here alone in a room with no mirrors. No windows. No back door. No skylight. No emergency exit. How can I make this long wait worthwhile? After all, I am not a lifeless mannequin. Yet.

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If I am to find pleasure within this cage, it will have to come from checking out the unnoticeables. When I close my eyes, what do I hear? The thunder rumble of an air conditioning system. Hallway laughter. Pity-pat of rubber-soled shoes. Muffled doctor-to-patient explanations in the adjacent room.

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Waiting Room Two: This public room is littered with waiters—those who obediently await The Verdict. Oddly, no-one is texting or otherwise tinkering with the electronic universe. Some are dozing, others are riffling through dogeared magazines. Unseen voices interact behind a glass booth.

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Waiting Room Three: Another room of no windows or mirrors. Test results are reported. Bedside manner is just as important as good news. Congenial experts count.

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On the way home I pass a glass window leaning against a building. A window with no rooms?

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Waiting Room Four: There is humor to be found. I am sitting beneath a dangling TV set. This means all eyes are staring in my direction. A media interview above me features a whiny celebrity who craves even more attention. The waiting patients slouch and gaze up or phone-speak, or just swipe about, considering their consumer-spending capabilities. Eventually, there will be doctors.

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As I make my escape, I warmly greet people just to surprise them with kindness. They smile despite their circumstances.

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There will be more Waiting Rooms in my life. Stay tuned

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© 2024 A.D. by Jim Reed