We all need someone we can lean on

My poor little cat woke me up the other night, his leg was swollen and he was in pain.  He leaned up against me, I snuggled him, and he fell asleep in my arms.  He didn't purr once, which was not like him at all.  There was nothing I could do for him except give him some comfort, and that seemed to be enough.  He just needed a little sympathy, but then sometimes don't we all?

The next morning I decided he needed to see the vet, so I called to make an appointment.  They opened at 9am, so I called at 9:05.  I wanted to get my kitty in as soon as possible.  They had a 10:40 appointment available.  Perfect.  She asked me if they'd seen this cat before and I said no.  She huffed, then grumbled that they didn't have time to see new clients.  I explained that I wasn't a new client, I've been taking my other pets there for years.  She was agitated, she abruptly said I could bring my cat in and the vet would see him when he could squeeze us in.  So, I asked the obvious question, "Why can't I just make an appointment for 10:40?"  The receptionist snapped, "You can bring him in and drop him off, or you can wait, but we'll see him when we can squeeze him in!".  Um.  OK.  So, I put my injured pet in his carrier and carted him off to the vet.

We walked in the door of the vet about twenty minutes later.  I was greeted by a vet tech who asked my name, I told him, and he said "Follow me".  He showed us to an exam room where the tech checked my cat's vitals, and did an initial triage.  I sarcastically thought, "well, I guess they're able to squeeze us in after all."  I still didn't understand, but I wasn't about to rock the boat and risk getting yelled at again by that nasty receptionist!

So, the vet came in and examined my poor, hobbled cat.  He said he thought it was probably a sprain but wanted to take x-rays, just to be sure.  He then said that they were booked, he had other clients to see, but he would squeeze us in when he could.  He seemed almost apologetic when he said it, but then immediately changed his tone and asked, "Do you want to wait?".  I decided that we were already there, so may as well wait.  He said I could go back to the receptionist's area, he'd let me know when he had time.  I was growing grouchier by the minute, especially since I had TRIED to make an appointment.  Again, I didn't want to ruffle anyone's feathers, so I sheepishly sneaked past the receptionist into the waiting room.  And I waited.

While I was sitting there, I people watched.  There were no other patients there yet (WTF??!!) so the only entertainment I had were the employees.  I watched the receptionist snap at one of the kids working there.  I watched her snap at the vet.  Little by little, those who could leave the waiting room, did.  It was a ghost town, just her....  and me.   "Wow," I thought, "Someone's having a bad day."  I put my head down and tried to blend with the potted plants, not wanting to piss this woman off any more than I apparently already had.  Her bad day was quickly becoming everyone's bad day.  Yikes!!

It grew busier, and Mary, that was her name, became focused on answering the phones.  She was rude and nasty to everyone calling to schedule appointments.  At one point the vet came back into the waiting room, and Mary exclaimed, "It's going to be one of those days, I can feel it!"  The vet quickly turned around and walked out.  Mary was not a happy camper.

Against my better judgement, I raised my head, I made eye contact, and I asked Mary if everything was OK.  She said again, "It's just going to be one of those days."  I asked her if there was anything I could do to help, and then I offered to run out and get her something.  Would she like a cup of coffee? 

Mary walked around from behind her desk, sat down in the chair next to me, and said, "I have cancer."  WOW!  Not what I was expecting to happen. She said she had just had surgery to remove a melanoma, she had two lymph nodes removed, she was swollen, she was uncomfortable, and she was scared.  For fifteen minutes, Mary talked, and I listened.  I nodded.  I patted her hand.  I sympathized (as best I could), while Mary cried.  She told me about her fears for her two teenaged daughters, what would they do without a mom?  How would her husband cope?  What about her dogs?  She was overwhelmed.  She asked so many questions, none that I could answer, and I don't think she expected me to.  I felt horrible.  Poor Mary just needed someone to be kind to her, to listen to her, and to show her some sympathy.  She wasn't a bitch, she was in pain. 

The phone rang and Mary went to her desk to answer it.  She was solemn, resigned, but no longer angry.  She wiped her tears, blew her nose, and when a client walked in the door, Mary smiled.


There are unreasonable people in the world, people who are hell bent on ruining the days of as many other people as they can.  Sometimes, though, what may appear to be an unreasonable person is really just another living being in pain, who is in need of some compassion.  Some sympathy.