Have any of you ever seen the movie Bad Santa with Billy Bob Thornton? If you have, you may recall the line where he says, “I beat up some kids today. But it was for a purpose. It made me feel good about myself..." We, the viewers know those damn bully kids had it coming. But the man hearing it has no idea, and suggests therapy. (It's at the end of the trailer on the link posted above. Naturally, you have to wait through some stupid ad first.) So, keep that in mind when I tell you this.I bitched out a man in the hospital family OR waiting room whose wife was having a kidney removed. I feel great about it. Needless to say, nobody is waiting in the OR waiting area for fun. We are all waiting there so that doctors and nurses will know exactly where to find us to update us about our loved ones. I think it's nice that the hospital provides a fairly comfortable little waiting area. In fact, this one dude felt so comfy there, he had commandeered it as his home office. He had his two laptops and various files spread out on the table before him, parked directly under the phone where communications come in from hospital staff summoning you to recovery rooms, etc. He also had a Bluetooth in his ear on which he talked loudly and incessantly to clients, his son, and his office staff about "billable hours" "open this file, NO! THAT one!" and deadlines and recreational plans for later that day. These were not pressing matters. I know because it was impossible
not to hear this every word this frickin' blowhard said and still be in range of the phone. This went on for an hour.
Finally, I had had it. I marched up to this guy and told him I thought what he was doing was incredibly rude and disrespectful to the other people waiting. Now, it's not like I expected him to say "Gee, you're right. I'm a douche bag" or anything, but when he informed me that my problem was that I was the type that only liked to hear myself talk, I thought I was in
The Twilight Zone. In my head I had had some choice words for this guy, but I had been silent throughout his performance until now.
Then he informed me about his wife's kidney operation and that this was how HE chose to deal with the stress, and that I wasn’t the only person having a difficult time. It wasn’t, for my information, all about
me. I told him maybe he should take the day off or take it someplace else. He sarcastically thanked me for putting MY stress on HIM and gathered his many items of self importance and moved his operations down the hall glaring at me all the way. Blessedly, I didn't have much longer to wait, and the news I got was positive. I passed by this dude on my way to the recovery area and he was making some kind of sarcastic remark to me that I blew off. For the time being, all was well, and Blowhard Guy was a mere speck on my radar screen. I, Sphincter of New Hampshire, bitched out a man whose wife was actively having a kidney removed. And I feel great about it.