Lots of Women, Not Much Men

   

     Today I had my yearly visit to the gynecologist. "Oh, no!" you are thinking. "Do I really want to read this blog? Do I really want to know Jeanne Kraus's thoughts on her gyno visit?"

     I can reassure you on one point. All of the thoughts contained herein are my pre-stirrup thoughts. In other words, my blog is based on my waiting room observations. So please feel free to continue to read.

This is not me. I never wear my socks.

     I love people-watching. Of course, the gender ratio in a gyno office is rather off. At any given time, there could be up to 12 women in the office, but at the most, 2 men. Husbands came with the pregnant women and were ushered in with them. One threesome appeared to be a father, his pregnant daughter and her boyfriend.

Who Reads Signs?

     I have other statistics for you. Despite a "No Cell Phones" sign, there were 4 cell phones in use. There was one I-Pad and one Kindle. Three women were reading novels, and 2 women were filling out forms on clipboards. George was writing and I was observing. The only people in the room who watched the TV were the men as they came through, avoiding eye contact with any of the women present.

     One lady, probably in her 20s, kept going to the EXIT, stepping outside for a second and coming back in. I was curious as to what she was doing. At first I thought she was waiting for a ride, and checking to see if it had come. Then I wondered if she was passing gas, and being courteous to the other people in the room. After she had gone out about 5-6 times, she frantically ran to the receptionist and asked to use the bathroom. Yup, must have been gas, I decided. While she was in there, a car pulled up and honked.

     Jeanne, Good Samaritan and Ready Helper, was in a quandary. Do I go out and ask the driver to wait and she will be right out? That she is in the bathroom probably from a bout of diarrhea? Or do I go to the bathroom and knock on the door and tell her to get her butt moving, because her ride is there?
Meanwhile, I am feeling guilt that I am taking too long to decide and she is going to miss her ride and it will be all my fault.

I Remember These Days

     Finally, she comes out of the bathroom, with a paper towel pressed to her nose and lips. OMG! She had morning sickness. The girl was in the early stages of pregnancy.

     All this time, the nurses had been calling women in. The last name called  was "Cobra," a most unusual first name for sure. The variety of women was apparent. There were 3-4 obviously in the pregnancy stages. Several women were my age, probably wishing that once the usefulness of the uterus was no longer needed, we could dispense with the annual pap exam.

     Finally, the name I was waiting for. "Jeanne" and it was time for me to enter Papland once more. It would be one more year before I would have this experience again. Good thing I got it on paper.