Waiting on changes

Hi neighbors. Do you spend a lot of time waiting? I hear about people waiting for all sorts of things all the time.

We are all waiting for spring. At least we are waiting for the sun to shine, waiting for the temperatures to heat up, waiting for the snow to melt (or at least stop falling) waiting, waiting, waiting.

I spend at least an hour a week in one doctor's office or another waiting to see the doctor. I really don't mind it as long as there are other people there waiting as well.

Last week I was in a doctor's waiting room waiting and saw two older gentlemen greet each other a little hesitantly at first, then as they got closer to each other and recognized who they were talking to, the greetings got a lot more jovial.

"Well, how are you doing? I know you!"

"Well sure you do! I see you in the store all the time. How are you doing?"

"I'm here to see the doctor 'cause I'm not feeling my best, but I'm doing OK. How about you?"

"I'm just here because I brought my wife in," points to a woman sitting next to him who he never introduces by name, "She's poorly."

The first gentleman nodded at her and said he was sorry for her poor health. Although the men never exchanged names, I wondered if it was because they now remembered who the other one was, or if they didn't want to be the first to admit they couldn't remember the other one's name.

Perhaps to break the silence, or just to make an attempt to explain his own trip to the doctor, the first man added, "I guess I got a right to be coming in to see the doctor now and then. I am 75 years old after all."

Not to be outdone by a simple chronological fact, the second man spoke up. "Well I am only 60 (mumble, mumble), but we start falling apart younger and younger it seems."

One up on the point system so far, the older man turned the conversation to a topic he obviously had researched a lot.

"What do you think about the state of agriculture these days? You know they are trying to tell people what to plant and what to raise. The government's taking over every thing a man does."

The second man said, "Yes, America is in big trouble."

The first man added, "And no one seems worried. I don't think people realize what's going on. We keep borrowing money from other countries -- what's that going to end up causing?"

"Yes," the second man agreed. "People had better stop waiting around for someone else to do something and take things in hand."

The first man nodded his head.

Then, they were both called in for the next step in the doctor's visit waiting game -- going to small rooms to wait alone.

I wish I could have listened to these two gentlemen talk longer. Some how I don't think they are the only ones sharing these same concerns. I certainly hope they are not a minority of those discussing these issues.

It doesn't matter what side of any issue a person is on. The important thing is discussing your opinions and concerns with others. For one thing, describing or defending your position on any topic forces you to catalog your thoughts and focus your concentration. You have to know what you think in order to express your thoughts to someone else.

Discussion is important in any society and much more so in a republic where what people think results in who rules the country.

A news commentator said the other day that people didn't know what to think until they read the latest polls and found out what everyone else thought. I don't want to think that is true.

It does seem that people use polls for research way too often. Knowing what other people think can be a help in some ways. But doing research into a subject to form your own thoughts is a much better way to develop an opinion.

In this day of information overload it can be pretty difficult to sort out truth from fiction and even more difficult to draw conclusions from random bits of information. It takes time and commitment to find your own opinion.

Until the next time friends, remember, don't hesitate to talk to strangers in waiting rooms. You might find you have a lot in common -- and if you don't have anything in common, you might find out why.