Yesterday I drove Pat to our doctor’s clinic to have a minor procedure.  I sat in the reception area, waiting as we were going shopping later.

Now I should have followed the lessons I learned when James and I would go to the hospital (for his many incidents) in the past…. bring a book.

I remember in Calgary in 1987 when we were living in Calgary and James fell from a shelf in the garage bringing down camping equipment and obviously broke his arm in many places. By happen chance Pat and I were talking to a neighbor in the garage and we saw him fall.  Obvious when James stood up that his arm had a zig zag pattern.

James looked at it and I looked at it and I said “well I guess we have to go to the hospital”.  Meantime the neighbor was freaking out looking at the injury.

Both James and I went into the house to pick up a book each because we knew this was going to take a long time.

Drove to the Rocky View hospital emergency and it did take forever.  I think part of the delay was because James and I were sitting in the waiting room with his arm broken in 4 places but both of us reading books so the nurses picked people screaming about inflamed zits before calling James in.

He was there for a week and I had to bring him many more books.    In any event I should have learned this lesson and brought a book while I awaited Pat at the clinic.  But I thought the inventory of magazines in the waiting room would suffice.

I went through the pile of magazines and there was not much.  Health gurus and flower arrangements and decorating.  Not even an old Readers digest.  Then I found a Canadian Geographic.

Sat there reading it with all the articles and it was interesting but it finally started to occur to me that they seemed a little dated.  Talking about future events.

I looked back to the spine on the magazine.  Canadian Geographic from July 1998.  Every comic that tells stories about old magazines in the doctor’s office came back to me.

As Pat reminded me afterwords,  I should have learned my lesson from many years ago and brought a book.  I will do that in the future.