[Essay] Hospital Wait Times and Confusion

~9 hours and 40 minutes~

Everyone, do you know what this amount of time represents?

It is apparently the wait time recorded at
Universal Studios Japan for an attraction
(Hollywood Dream - The Ride - Backdrop).

It is said to be the
Japanese record for attraction wait times.

9 hours and 40 minutes...

You could make 193 cups of instant ramen...

That is also longer than a full day's work.

It is just too endless.

The person at the very end of the line must be incredibly patient...

By the way,
what would you say is the longest thing you have ever waited for in your life?
What would it be?

It might be an amusement park attraction,
a line at a ramen shop,
or waiting for a reply to a confession of love to someone you like;
it varies from person to person.

I have an episode related to such waiting times, so would you please listen to it?

It was when I was ajunior high school student.

At the time, the
fluwas going around in the area where I lived.

Because of that, I was taken by my mother to a local hospital to get a
vaccination.

The inside of the hospital was
overflowing with people who, like me, had come to get their flu shots.

I was surprised
that there were so many people in this rural area.

Since there were so many people waiting for vaccinations,
I was made to wait for quite a long time.

Sigh...

Good grief, if I have to wait this long,
I really don't need to get a vaccination at all...

My only redeeming quality is my good health.

I only catch a cold two or three times a year.

So, I can handle the flu with ease.

Besides, even if someone with the flu
sneezed or coughed at me, I am confident I could dodge it.

It's not something to brag about, but
I was the best in my class
at the side-step test we did in P.E. class.

I'll show you that I can dodge
a flu patient's sneezes and coughs with my side-stepping.

In short, I have no need for a vaccination.

Come on, it's a waste of time,
Mom, let's go home already, okay?

Yes.

Honestly, I'm afraid of needles.

If I didn't have to get one,
I wouldn't want to...

But it seems this year's influenza
is raging with all its might,
so it seems I absolutely have to get it.

Damn it... curse you, influenza...

What kind of rampage are you on...

The longer I wait,
the more my fear grows.

The receptionist is
calling out names one by one.

Old men, old women, young men, young women, middle school students around my age, and elementary school students younger than me.

They are being called one after another.

Everyone heads over with a nonchalant look on their face.

But when they return after getting their shots, there are
children cryingandpeople looking like they are in pain.as well.

"I hate this!!
I'm not getting any shot!!!"

I suppressed the urge to say that,
since I was in the hospital,
I behaved myself and waited quietly.

While waiting,
the only way to distract myself from feeling scared
is to think about something else.

For example,
influenza
and
simple toilet seat
sound kind of similar...

or,

'simple toilet seat' is a phrase I just came up with, but
what even is a 'simple toilet seat' anyway?

or,

is a 'simple toilet seat' an
O-shaped seat or a
U-shaped seat? Which one is it?

or,

come to think of it, influenza also comes in
Type A, Type B, and Type C

or

No, wait. Come to think of it...
humans also have blood types like A, B, O, and AB too...

In other words, influenza, toilet seats, and humans are all just pitiful beings that someone arbitrarily forced into categories...

Even though no two people are the same...
even though no two viruses are the same...
even though there isn't the same toilet seat in any bathroom...

Stop arbitrarily forcing us into categories like Type A, Type B, Type O, or U-shape!

I am who I am!

While I was thinking about suchnonsensicalthings

My mother said she was going to the restroom and left her seat.

I was left to wait alone for a while.

For a middle schooler like me,
being all alone in a hospital waiting for an injection
is quite lonely...

As I waited alone, feeling nervous,
from somewhere
bzzzt bzzztI heard the sound of something vibrating.

It seems someone's mobile phone is
vibrating on silent mode.

bzzzt bzzzt

For a while, a vibration sound echoed throughout the hospital.

Buzz-buzz-buzz, buzz-buzz-buzz

But no one answered.

I looked around.

Everyone waiting in the waiting room also
seemed to be looking around, trying to find the owner of the mobile phone.

Buzz-buzz-buzz, buzz-buzz-buzz

When I listened closely...

Buzz buzz, buzz buzz

I have a feeling it's ringing
somewhere near me.

It seems everyone around me
has also noticed it ringing near me,and their gazes are gathering toward me.

It feels really awkward...

I check my mobile phone,
but there are no incoming calls.

It is not my mobile phone.

I check my mother's bag while she is away from her seat, but
there are no incoming calls on her phone either.

Buzz-buzz-buzz, buzz-buzz-buzz.

It keeps ringing from somewhere.

The people around me keep looking in my direction.

What is this?

Everyone, please don't look at me!

This vibration sound is not mine!!

Then, the
middle-aged woman with a perm sitting in the row in front of me
turned around with a stern look on her face.

...Oh no, is she going to yell at me for being noisy?

It's not me! Ma'am with the perm!!
It is not my vibration sound!!

I panicked as I watched the face of the woman with the perm become increasingly stern.

W-what should I do...!!

However,
the woman with the perm was not speaking to me, but rather to
the elderly woman sitting next to me.

“Excuse me, your phone is ringing.”

The woman with the perm asked, but
the elderly woman did not respond.

She was likely hard of hearing.

“Excuse me! Your phone is ringing!”

The woman with the perm spoke to the elderly woman in a louder voice than before.

But the elderly woman had her eyes closed and was looking down.

She might be asleep...

Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz

However, the cell phone keeps ringing.

"Grandma!!
Your phone is ringing!!!"

The woman with the perm shouted even louder.

The elderly woman still showed no reaction.

Buzz-buzz-buzz, buzz-buzz-buzz

The cell phone keeps ringing.

I can see the face of the woman with the perm getting more and more stern.

A strange tension hangs in the hospital waiting room.

Come on! Monkey Pants, gather your courage!!

I, sitting next to her, must
do my best to tell this old lady that her cell phone is ringing!!!

Otherwise, the anger of this woman with the perm is going to explode!!

Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz

Feeling nervous, I gently tapped the elderly woman on the shoulder and

said, "...Excuse me... your cell phone is ringing."
I spoke to her.

Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz

Oh!

Hey, no way!

Oh, I am so sorry!

That wasn't my phone ringing!

Gosh! I'm just so hopeless lately!

I'm so sorry, ma'am!

Ho ho ho ho!"

The woman with the perm said in a flustered tone.

Then, clutching her mobile phone,
the woman with the perm went outside.

"Hello! I'm so sorry for picking up late!
I didn't notice it at all!"

The woman with the perm, now outside,
was talking in a loud voice that could be heard inside.

In the end, the phone that had been vibrating the whole time wasn't mine, nor the elderly woman's,
but the phone belonging to the woman with the perm sitting right in front of me.

She was quite the troublemaker...

But at least that settled it...

Thinking this, I looked to the side

the elderly woman who had been sleeping until just a moment ago
is staring at me with round, innocent eyes.

I didn't know how to explain it,
so"I'm sorry..."was all I could do
to apologize.

In the meantime,
my mother returned and my name was called,
and I finished the hellish injection.

Thinking about it calmly later,
why did I apologize when I didn't do anything wrong?

[Report]
The sixth episode of the Monkey Pants serialized novel"Spin the Town" has been updated on Tales✨
Please read it... please read it... I really want you to read it...