(This post is part of the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge. You can find links to other writers' answers over at Long and Short Reviews. I have not been following along as reliably this year as I did in previous years, but I'm still participating! Sort of.)
Prompt: How I amuse myself in waiting rooms.
"I read books," he said, surprising exactly nobody, "or I tell myself stories, think about the stories I'm working on now." He patted the pouch on his belt. "And I turn off the television in the waiting room if I find it too annoying."
"...You do what?" she asked.
"Turn off the television. There's always a television, it frequently has the volume up, and often there's nowhere you can reasonably escape it."
"So you just... walk over there and turn it off?"
"Sometimes," he admitted. "If nobody else seems to be watching it. But, well, a while back I stumbled on a mention of TV-B-Gone, and I ordered one. And it works on everything I've tried it on so far, including that one Wendy's that just won't turn off Fox News."
"But that's-- Okay, that actually sounds handy."
He shrugged. "It's situational, but it sure has been nice to have the option."
"Okay," the interviewer said, glancing down at the notepad in her lap. "Do you always write about yourself in the third person?"
"Only when I'm being interviewed in a waiting room."
Loved this! 🤣
ReplyDeleteHooray!
DeleteThis is great! Most waiting rooms in Canada don’t seem to have televisions, but I get the urge to turn them off when I see them, too.
ReplyDeleteIt really is surprisingly satisfying...
DeleteVery relatable.
ReplyDeletePriscilla King
The reading, or the talking about yourself in the third person? (Kidding! I'm kidding.)
DeleteHa! Good for you. You were totally right that so often nobody’s watching it and even if it’s not Fox News, a lot of (actual) news these days seems to be either terrifying or depressing
ReplyDeleteSeriously, yes. I can entertain myself; I don't need to be force-fed whatever you happened to turn on.
DeleteOh man, thank you so much for this small interlude! I found it very amusing, and am also now considering getting my very own TV-B-Gone - but I have to admit it's less for waiting rooms, and more so that I can mess with the TV from upstairs while my partner is watching it downstairs. We have a skylight through which I could observe the results, and I imagine it to be tremendously amusing!
ReplyDelete