I went along with my mother to an appointment the other day. While I was waiting for her in the aptly named “waiting room” I happened to be seated next to a daughter, mother, grandmother, combo. This didn’t bother me at all but the conversation of the mother and grandmother did. Mind you, this wasn’t a large waiting area, so even if I had moved from my spot, I wouldn’t have been able to avoid their cluckings.

The long and short of it is was it seems this family had some issues. Everything from the mother’s past drug problems (which included copious amounts of Motrin, which the grandmother was shocked hadn’t damaged the mother’s liver) to alcohol and other abuse. They also had issues with the place they used to work. A place I wish I would have caught the name, because I would like to avoid it in the future. The daughter would love to run into her ex-boss from there so she can tell him what a piece of shit he was (at which point the grandmother told the mother to lower her voice, yeah, like it matters NOW!) and what she would like to do to him.

It amazes me how some people will just air anything out in public and think or not care that the rest of us can hear. I’m not a Victorian. I don’t think we shouldn’t talk about our problems and handle them like civilized human beings but there honestly is a time and place. I didn’t need to hear all of this, nor did I want to. And I knew that if I asked these people to stop talking I would be accused of eavesdropping. Which was impossible not to do.

Some people just need to learn basic social skills and graces. Clearly they missed out on the lesson on talking in waiting rooms.