Behaviour in the Doctor's Waiting Room

In the stark white waiting room lit by striplights we are obliged to watch the screen continuously or miss our appointment.
If you miss your appointment-you get told off by of the dragons in reception.
I've longed to tell them that their skills would be better suited to working in an abattoir perhaps stunning the animal before it's killed or perhaps sharpening knives on their tongues .
Last time,I went we all agreed that we hated the waiting room for the complete lack of warmth or comfort .

Allira

What was he saying? 😲
😁

He was going to ask them about what they were discussing which would have meant they would have known he was listening to their conversation. They might have been ok about it but on the other hand they might have been really annoyed. He also keep nudging me as if the people that were chatting couldn’t see us .

My son has always found me embarrassing; I remember him once telling me off for talking in a cinema even though the film hadn’t started. I was at the hospital on Monday and got chatting to the lady selling tea and coffee ( I was really relieved to find that they sold drinks in the waiting room as I’d been scared to have a drink before my appointment) about cats; she was telling me about her cat and I was reminiscing about cats I’d had, and it dawned on me afterwards that I had been talking very loudly.

MayBee70

Allira

What was he saying? 😲
😁

He was going to ask them about what they were discussing which would have meant they would have known he was listening to their conversation. They might have been ok about it but on the other hand they might have been really annoyed. He also keep nudging me as if the people that were chatting couldn’t see us .

Oh I see!

Unkind to tell your mother to 'shut up'

Perhaps he said "Hush, Mother"!

Hopefully

My late mother (who was certainly racist at times) often complained that she had trouble understanding 'foreign' doctors because of their accented English though she often gave them credit for their medical treatments.

I sometimes have trouble understanding Glaswegians on TV.

No one talks in our surgery but they have a tv set with inane reality programs on. Sometimes people can be heard checking in with the receptionist and sometimes it seems quite personal, they should be more careful what information they talk about. Every time we go it is $92 for 5 minutes so just cherish your NHS !

My mother in her late 80s would pass comments about people at the hairdresser's and in waiting rooms as she was very hard of hearing. Staff were great with her as they said it gave them a chance to practise their customer service skills.

My father-in-law was very embarrassing in public. Too loud and too often commented on race.

Maybe your son was "shushing" you to prevent what he feared might come out next - rather than what you had already said.

Our waiting room is virtually silent. Any conversation is overheard (even if super-quiet).

MayBee70

My son has always found me embarrassing; I remember him once telling me off for talking in a cinema even though the film hadn’t started. I was at the hospital on Monday and got chatting to the lady selling tea and coffee ( I was really relieved to find that they sold drinks in the waiting room as I’d been scared to have a drink before my appointment) about cats; she was telling me about her cat and I was reminiscing about cats I’d had, and it dawned on me afterwards that I had been talking very loudly.

😄
My DD’s didn’t mind me chatting to anyone but curled up in embarrassment if I complained about service in shops or anything like that.

Don’t most people have problems understanding a GP or anyone else that have accents? It could be an Indian accent or a
Scottish accent or any other, if it’s quite a strong one I know I struggle to hear the words and I’m not deaf!
So if a person hears a GP has a foreign name it isn’t strange to wonder if they’ll understand them.

So if they were called Dr Kelly, Murphy, MacDonald or Stewart you would think the same?

Personally speaking, a Scottish name would be reassuring for me as I am a Scot and am happy with all Scottish accents and even all Scottish dialects.

Many GPs are 'Asian' and some Asians are hard for me to hear. I do not doubt their competence and their kindness but I do not enjoy some foreign accents. My preference is not racist.

I have enjoyed all replies, and I thank all of you. I have decided my son was right in his intuition not to sit and chat together in that particular place.

VANECAM

Hi Caleo, it sounds like you have a very well mannered son there. His empathy and good manners ( including social awareness) does you proud.

Thanks Vanecam He is actually a popular man and has a great social life.

Absolutely! There are 6 doctors, 4 of them partners, in my local medical centre, but when you do manage to get an appointment, the place is empty apart from one doctor on duty and a couple of nurses. There seem to be more receptionists than medical staff. Even the blood pressure monitor is out of action! Weird.
I sometimes feel as if I'm in the Twilight Zone rather than a doctors' waiting room.

Esmay

In the stark white waiting room lit by striplights we are obliged to watch the screen continuously or miss our appointment.
If you miss your appointment-you get told off by of the dragons in reception.
I've longed to tell them that their skills would be better suited to working in an abattoir perhaps stunning the animal before it's killed or perhaps sharpening knives on their tongues .
Last time,I went we all agreed that we hated the waiting room for the complete lack of warmth or comfort .

Medical space decor is not always as good as it should be. Many years ago it was expected that most patients would defer to the doctor and to his own premises. Now, however patients are encouraged to take responsibility for themselves as much as they can do so.
Taking responsibility means understanding medical procedures as much as is possible and that puts the patient on the same social footing as the doctor. There is no social need for medical spaces to be intimidating or have a cold deferential atmosphere.

Out of context that could be seen as racist by the other patients waiting. You know you didn't mean it that way and knowing you your son probably did too but he was obviously embarrassed in front of the other patients. I would forgive him that moment of exasperation honestly and perhaps be mindful that your voice may carry more than you realise or even have a tone to it you can't hear well which changes the meaning.

InRainbows

Out of context that could be seen as racist by the other patients waiting. You know you didn't mean it that way and knowing you your son probably did too but he was obviously embarrassed in front of the other patients. I would forgive him that moment of exasperation honestly and perhaps be mindful that your voice may carry more than you realise or even have a tone to it you can't hear well which changes the meaning.

think you confuse zenophobic and racist.

I am not quite sure how to take that comment but my thoughts were that other patients might not know how to take yours without the context you have provided us

There is such a lot of casual racism heard recently. Whatever it's called
Those who are on the end of it are daily assaulted by micro aggressions and attitude.
If course that was an unacceptable thing to say out loud. No wonder your son was cringing. He probably feared guilt by association.
Also upthread
That anyone could hear the word darky in the present day and not object or correct it is astonishing to me.
And people on here say MN us a viper pit of bad language.
They wouldn't tolerate any racist attitudes or words there. It would be jumped on immediately.
And rightly so.

Since I am starting to lose my hearing, the accents I have most problems with are Scottish accents. It is not to do with my being racist, it has something to do with how they say certain vowels and consonants.

GoodAfternoonTea

Since I am starting to lose my hearing, the accents I have most problems with are Scottish accents. It is not to do with my being racist, it has something to do with how they say certain vowels and consonants.

All scottish accents?

There's a world of difference between the vowels and consonants of Clydebank and Culduthel. Or Buchan and Bearsden. Or Ayr and Ann St.