Since the flu bug is over...

Well...my daughter has fully recovered from the stomach flu. I was awake for 41+ hours. Not a record - not by a long shot...but still. For us older parents, I was a little crabby over the next few days.
Naturally...my wife picked up a variant of the strain. Where as the baby girl had an extremely volatile version that lasted a few days, the variant my wife picked up wasn't exceptionally violent or robust...however, it has lasted over a week so far!
No body likes to get sick, but what really irritated her was the fact that she had gotten sick a day before our son was scheduled for surgery...

The surgery had been scheduled for 3:30PM, with the Pre-Op check-in at 2:00 PM. The phone call I got the morning of, requesting if we could arrive 30 minutes early as it appeared the Dr. is running ahead of schedule was pleasing! Naturally I agreed.
So, at 12-noon I pulled him from school and away we drove to the hospital.
Having been a visitor to hospitals in the past, I knew enough to grab the back-pack and stuff a couple books and my computer notebook in it. Once we arrived and found a parking spot (at the top level of the ramp), I strapped on the heavy backpack, and we made our pilgrimage to the admitting/registration desk.

We were not the first in line once we arrived naturally, there was an older couple at the front of the line, standing a few feet behind them was a man, who appeared to be in his mid 30's and immediately behind him was a woman, in her upper 20's, then us. As we waited, a woman who appeared to have lived over 40 hard years, showed up as an elderly gentleman with a couple packages got into line behind her.
The elderly couple at the front of the line continued to work with the receptionist as my son and I waited. Of course, standing in line and being polite for 30 seconds was too much for the woman behind us. She pulled out her got and began loudly talking. I noticed the elderly couple were getting visitor badges. To acquire a badge constitutes a procedure of the individual taking a couple steps back to a blue star on the floor which was just beyond the edge of the rug. Then the web-cam housed in a metal container (bolted to the desk to prevent anyone from stealing it?), takes their picture, then the individual moves up, gets their badge. The elderly couple were then given directions on where they needed to be, they smiled and sincerely thanked the woman at the desk before merrily going on their way.

And as the woman behind me prattled loudly on her cell phone, oblivious to the world around her, the man next in line stepped up to the desk; the rest of us politely remaining off the rug, giving the individual a three foot space for privacy as well room should he need to get his picture taken for a badge.

Once he was finished, he went on his way and the woman next in line stepped up, my son and I took one step forward, maintaining our position off the rug as the woman on her cell phone kept on speaking as though her words were addressing the G7 summit. As she pontificated, she refused to remain still, and it sounded as thought she was literally one foot from my ear on occasions. I would turn towards her yet incline/lean my head and upper body away to let her know that she was being overly close.

Then it was our turn. My son and I stepped up to the desk - and so did the woman behind us. I had to ask the employee behind the desk to repeat herself more than once because the woman behind me on her cell phone continued to project her words as though she was on stage. I actually had to turn away from the desk, looked at the woman on the phone, say "Excuse me," then indicated the edge of the rug three feet back then glanced back at her before I once again turned my attention to the employee at the desk.
The woman's lips never broke stride as she looked at me with the combination of annoyance and disdain that you would give an insect. She obviously didn't understand what I was suggesting - she was too caught up in her own little soap opera, attempting to vocally overpower everyone in the huge lobby with her pontification (As I write this out, I wonder if there really was someone on the other end. Perhaps she was undertaking an experiment of rudeness?)
Then, the hospital employee behind the desk asked if I had a visitation badge, and when I replied that I did not, she stated those magic words:
"Well, lets take one. Please step back to the blue star at the edge of the rug."

I stepped backwards in a manner that did not hide any determination. What I had expected to happen, did. The woman was still blathering on her cell phone, oblivious to what was going on...I had bumped into her. I stopped, looked at where my backpack hit her, then at her with a gaze of irritated disappointment.
With an off-hand manner, she somehow manged to slide an "Excuse me," at my direction without interrupting her dribble.
I scowled slightly at her before taking my position on the blue star for my badge.
As I went back to the desk, I noticed that the woman didn't follow me and that her voice wasn't quite as loud as it had been (she was probably telling her lonely friend on the other line how rude I was).

I suspect that she is the type of individual that would compose a movie review via texting while driving on the freeway during rush hour.

...here endith the blog...