Strangers in the Waiting Room

She'll have you roped in for a Grandad soon smile.
Fennel; do you really think so? Thanks for the warning, although I can't imagine anyone being that desperate Mind you, if the lady invites me over to the cafe to continue our conversation over a cup of coffee I'd jump at the chance, but if she insisted on paying then my warning system would kick in. I'd hate being "bought," although it's not happened yet!

Yes, it was, but has been pointed out many times of late, a joke that has to be explained loses its appeal somehow.

MissAdventure; Come off it please! You said it was a joke and I thought you meant it and I treated it as such. Now you suddenly turn on me for "jumping in feeling all affronted". No way!
Is your "sex object" meant to be a joke too!? Not a very funny one!

She'll have you roped in for a Grandad soon .

Rufus..it's just about a different way of thinking. You like to chat to strangers
Rosie you could be right and strangers may like to chat to me; it's their choice!
Here's another little anecdote; in the supermarket queue again (I should buy some of their shares!) a lady joins with one of the trolleys fitted with an occupied toddler's seat. So I had to enquire whether toddlers were on today's special. "Oh No !" she replied, "she's on special every day" Good reply! Of course a conversation soon started up, but which became a bit one-sided because she'd obviously committed her bragging notes to memory and was answering questions before I"d even asked them.! Name, age etc. etc. You remember from your bragging days! Once past the till she said "thank you, it was nice talking to you!" I must have a non-threatening demeanour!

It meant what it said.
So many people here jump in, all affronted, a bit like you just did.

JOKE!!
What's that mean? No harm in having a few "toothless tigers" around. They won't get $2,000 dental bills to worry about!

I wish someone would see me as a sex object!

Rufus..it's just about a different way of thinking. You like to chat to strangers and you seem to assume that others feel the same. You need to understand that maybe they don't. I was once travelling on the Trans-pennine express, going from Yorkshire into Lancashire. I bought myself a packet of sweets, found myself a window seat and was looking forward to enjoying the view from the window and thinking my own thoughts. However, a man got on, saw me sitting alone and assumed I wanted company. He said he had decided to have a day out in Blackpool, and proceeded to tell me his life story. When we got to Preston, I stood up. 'Oh, are you getting off?' he said....as though he thought we'd be spending the day together! This is the kind of thing, I mean...the assumptions that people make.
As for age, younger men see women as sex objects..older men as potential nurses..either way, they regard women as invented purely for their convenience!

Well, its rather unkind to people without any teeth to mention dental work, rufus..
JOKE!! BEFORE ANYONE IS OFFENDED!

when you get to a certain age
Rosie; mention of "a certain age" crops up regularly on GN, usually in the context of MEN! How do we recognise when it's arrived.? Hot flushes, needing a woman's touch to make a cup of tea; do tell!
Btw; please do me the courtesy of reading my apology below. Even though it's Valentines's Day I can't grovel on bended knee any longer, let alone get up again.
Incidentally, would it help you to know I was referring to Aussie morons.? I don't suppose Pommie ones exist any more. Also, I had some dental work to-day, setting me back $2,000, so not best pleased OoRoo

True, Fennel...when you get to a certain age, men ARE looking for someone to take care of them ! Thanks for your support, littleflo, it just takes a little fore-thought and consideration before condemning someone who doesn't feel like chatting, especially in a medical setting.

Rufus .
I'm a natural chatterbox, and enjoy the company of both men and women.
But I get the feeling when chatting to apparently single men I don't know that they have in mind, 'Ah someone to look after me!'
And TG I already have plenty to do looking after my own man !

There are a lot of lonely men around
Fennel; Nothing to be sorry about! I now live on my own and being schizophrenic we have got used to our own company! No longer lonely!
But you seem to be saying you have to be careful as lonely men can suspect your motives. I always understood it to be the other way round and I'm quite sure you don't have any motives about me to make me suspicious! Do you!? OoRoo

Language used in Oz is often more colourful and straightforward, same words, different meanings and usually blunter
Granny Gravy; Sorry about that everyone! It was careless and thoughtless of me! It's already been deleted from my memory bank.

littleflo whilst in principle I totally agree with you and RosieLeah the Language used in Oz is often more colourful and straightforward, same words, different meanings and usually blunter.

(Apologise to any Aussie GN's, but that has been my experience)

Although on a plane or train traveling on my own I tend to bury my head in a book/magazine along with earphones, enjoying some "me time".

In shops, waiting rooms or having a coffee I am mindful if people start up a conversation I always acknowledge them and chat a while as it might be the only human interaction the other person has that day.

I think that @RosieLeah did have a point. Rufus described the other patients as Morons. That was a totally unnecessary slur on people he did not know. Probably at least half the people there were worried about the doctors visit. They could be feeling very unwell or staring at tv or their phones to distract themselves and relieve any tension they were feeling.

It was asked in one reply, “do we have have to stop and think about every word and phrase we use, in case we offend someone”. Of course we should, morons is a very unkind word.

People would know my late DM's life history within 5 minutes of meeting her.....

What a lovely anecdote Rufus! Good for you!

I find that in my case its at bus shelters or stops with seating off sorts.
You see a face , in my case a women, and this becomes a regular thing say over a time slot.
Usually its a hello or a nod , as regularity of when you meet .
But in some cases conversation happens , but you soon go your separate ways , on different buses .
Mick

Safely away from the docs waiting room! In the supermarket I joined a check-out "queue" with only 2 ladies, so I thought that would be fairly quick; there wasn't a queue with only men, as advised by Homer Simpson; in fact no men around except me, of course. As it turned out that was a good move because the 2 ladies were elderly mother and daughter who had all their shopping spread out along the conveyor belt. Being naturally curious I spotted an unusual ingredient, forget what it was, doesn't matter, and asked what it was and did it require cooking, something I'm no Jamie Oliver.
The mother gave me a comprehensive run down all about it and I said it sounded delicious and (cheekily) I'd like to take her home and cook one for me. After they'd cleared the till the daughter came back and said thank-you, Mum says I'd made her day! All for a couple of minutes of polite conversation! 3 people having a pleasant shopping experience!
Need a bigger halo, but haven't found them on e-Bay yet!

Do bear that in mind before criticising them for being unfriendly
Rosie; Rest assured I was not criticising anyone; merely commenting on this pervasive habit of people when gathered in groups to produce an i-phone or their favourite gadget and ignore the world around them. I appreciate that it's their business and none of mine, but I can be a chatter-box at times, so it can put me into a state of silent irritation. In the "good old days," pre-mobile phones, there was nothing else to do but read ancient copies of Nat.Geog., Woman's Day, Good Housekeeping etc. off-loaded by previous patients. So naturally we talked; I also honed my 6th. sense over many years as to when to keep my own counsel. I learned more from such conversations than from the doc. who often had his hand on the door knob before I was even half-way through reading out my list of symptoms. I've also been on the other side, as when I was bunged into hosp. with a "pseudo-cyst on the pancreas." 3 days in ICU followed by a week in the ward, no food throughout, they called me "Nil Orally"!, so I wasn't very chatty then! Perhaps I'm making up for it now whenever I can find a listener. OoRoo

It is nice, but I echo Rosie’s word of caution in medical settings. My mum and I are very chatty , but with age mum has become less observant, cue lots of comments about someone having been on his holidays and having a nice tan directed at a man who was clearly suffering severe liver failure in the CT scanner waiting area. He didn’t look happy, and fair enough, he probably had a lot on his plate.
Last week, my DH and I boarded a plane and said brightly to a lady in an aisle seat “Sorry, I think we are sat there [indicating the seats beyond her] - Oh no we’re not! It’s this one! [the row in front] She very curtly said “Good!”. I was a bit taken aback as was my husband. However I didn’t say anything. I’m so glad I didn’t; as we were waiting to take off we heard her ring a car hire operator at Manchester, her husband had died while they were away and she was unexpectedly flying back alone to a different U.K. airport than planned.
I made a mental note to remember that we never know what is going on in strangers’ lives and to cut them some slack and be aware.
As a young woman I was told more than once to “Smile! It might never happen!” and the like, when taking a rare break from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit where my brain damaged baby was fighting for her life, to get a Pret sandwich and a real coffee in Leeds city centre 10 minutes away. I dare say the men making the comments thought I was a misery, in fact I was miserable and shattered.
But yes, there are great pleasures to be found in chatting to strangers.

My daughter lives in a very diverse neighbourhood and described how their doctor’s waiting room is packed with whole extended families eating fried chicken and chips. Nice to have all that support while you wait for your smear test or a repeat prescription or perhaps bad news.