What do you do/think about in the doctor's or dentist's waiting room?

Nauseous and vulnerable, avoid at all costs.

For some reason I enjoy them…I feel cozy in them

I just read magazines, unless I’m there for something troublesome. Then I get nervous and worry.

I think about not touching anything. When you look at the magazines that are all worn, I just wonder how many people have coughed into there hands and then flipped the pages. I’ve seen it to many times. Even seen people sneeze into them. Yuck!
Plus I wonder how much they are going to milk my insurance for a simple check up or how much they are going to charge to have mostly nurses attend me and then have a doctor come in and bearly look at me and simply read my chart and run out after a whole 3 minutes, to prescribe some over the counter meds or the usual for my acid reflux.
Needless to say I usually just feel annoyed that I had to go and see any of them. I try not to unless I tried everything and the illness has outlasted my patiences.

Coincidently, I was at the dentist’s this morning. I chatted with the ladies behind the desk and was called in thereafter. I do diaphragmatic breathing while in the chair.

You’ll all be happy to know that I got an A in brushing and flossing, with only one tooth that needs more TLC.

I usually look around for means of escape.

I feel okay in dentists/orthodontist’s waiting rooms, but there’s a horrific air of dread in the waiting room for a doctor.
“There’s no comfort in the waiting room.” -Death Cab for Cutie

I play games on the iPhone. What did I do before this thing? It changed my life ~

I do my needlework to help relax.

Daydream.
Actually, I daydream pretty much all the time.

Sometimes I chat with another person who is waiting. If they have a computer they I might go on the internet. I will not look at magazines at a GP or internist, but at other doctors I do.

look through the magazines, wondering why they are 9 months old.

@woodcutter I don’t mind if they are old, I just wonder who the hell decides what magazines they order? Rarely are there good choices.

My dentist has Tintin books, so I read them or admire the artwork on the walls.

At the doctor’s I sit down, keep my hands in my lap or on my bag, and try to avoid breathing.

At my Dr’s I’ll chat with whoever is there in the waiting room, it’s a lovely friendly little practice and all of us patients are local to it. At the dentist’s I’ll be sitting listening to my mp3 player, I do the same thing during my appointment. My Dentist is lovely, so is his nurse, but I told them from the very start when I started attending I don’t do drill noises or anything else, I don’t want things explained to me before he does them, I’ll just close my eyes and chill with some music, and he can tap me on the shoulder when he’s done LOL. So far it’s worked a treat, in fact he told me he’s suggested it to a couple of nervous patients and has even allowed one of them to borrow his ipod :-)

@woodcutter – My dad’s a dentist, and he subscribes to magazines that he or my mom wants to read (Macleans, Canadian Living, Entertainment Weekly, Chatelaine) . They’re never more than a month old – when the new issues come in, he brings the old ones home to read, then gives them to my sister (a teacher) for collage projects and stuff. I wish more doctors and dentists did this :)

I think about the crappy magazines in the lobby and wonder when they are going to get science ones…. then I wonder how a 9am appointment will always be 1 hour late if I’m lucky

Doctor? Boredom.

Dentist? Fear.

I read and tend to chat it up with those around me (nervous energy).

I get bored very easily in those sort of tedious situations. Consequently, my mischief radar goes into overdrive. Allsorts of possibilities are dreamt up in the playground I call my mind. Wiles away the waiting time quite nicely as it happens.

I have been so lucky in the dentistry dept. I have really good teeth and have only ever had one cavity. My dentist is really nice and very gentle and is a good conversationalist and so is her hygienist. I always tease them both that for me, it is like going to the spa.

The waiting room has a big picture window (on the third floor) that looks out over the ocean.

And they always have lots of cooking magazines that I peruse while I’m waiting. I usually talk to the receptionist a little bit about how she is doing. All in all, it’s a very pleasant situation.

today, I was wondering how long it would take to get out of there…...what for breakfast? and what errands should I run.
...
what part of housecleaning should I do today….or shall I fluther and zumba?

Since I don’t subscribe to any magazines then it’s my chance to check them all out.

@JLeslie I can deal with outdated mags, after all I’m just waiting. It is the choices of what’s there that makes the wait drag on, I mean “Woman’s Day”? C’mon.

@woodcutter We agree. A nice selextion would be good. In my GYN office everything is parenting and maybe Oprah thrown in, and People. But, multiple mags of the same type. Can’t they have Time or Newsweek? And, one less “girl magazine.”. My endocrinologist is a little better.

@JLeslie yes I think the material that is put out there is based on the type of clientele expected, possibly something to do with that type of practice or what the doc personally is interested in. Newsweek can’t go wrong there. I took my wife to get her mammogram last week and that waiting room had squat. All family and chic related stuff. Not putting that reading content down or anything just sayin.

@woodcutter Well, it pisses me off. My fertility doctor in NY had cooking magazines and some other non female non-mommy magazines. My fertility doctor here, had mommy stuff, and I am fucking having a hard time having a baby. I really don’t want mommy magazines at the fertility doctor, and men come along too, and have to wait. I just think a good variety makes sense, and a subscription costs $20—$40 a year depending on the mag, they can afford to order 5 different ones, and then add in employees bringing in their own.

@JLeslie Some choices may be politically driven, to an extent. Just to be safe it would make sense to have warm and fuzzy material out there to reinforce a message. They want to appear neutral in their interests. It’s rare sometimes we might see a “Popular Mechanics” or other kinds of “guy” magazines. A little something for everyone. I can understand why a doc would not have “Guns and Ammo” or “Heavy Metal”, or tattoo related ones. The “Heavy Metal” would probably come up missing after the first hour.

At my oncology/ hematology practice, in the waiting room there is a large basket with balls of yarn, knitting needles and instructions on how to knit or crochet a 10” square. You can start your own or finish up one that is partially completed.

When there are enough, someone sews all the squares together and makes a cheerful afghan. Then the office sells chances, one lucky person wins the quilt at the drawing and the money goes to The American Cancer Society.

I bring a book, but I usually look around at other people wondering why they are there.

What do I think about?
Well I think whoever invented them should be shot!!
In an ideal world we should be able to just walk straight into the doctors/dentists room without waiting.
It feels so scary uust waiting around :)