Politics in the Waiting Room by Steve Mussey MD
This is a totally true story!
A specialty clinic we use has a television in their waiting room. For several months, it was set to conservative station Fox News. Finally a patient complained about the conservative slant and the receptionist let the patient change the channel. The patient picked MSNBC, which lasted for several days.
One of my patients came to the clinic, saw the liberal MSNBC reporting and promptly went ballistic. He started screaming.
He screamed at the television. He yelled at the receptionist. He cursed at another patient who argued with him. He was so disruptive, he was discharged from the practice.
He wrote an angry letter, protesting the liberal slant of the clinic. The clinic’s office manager met with the patient and attempted to find a middle ground.
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The manager suggested CNN. This resulted in an immediate profanity laced tirade.
The patient then immediately marched to our office, where he blasted us for referring to such a “liberal lying bunch of scum!”
Since that encounter, the problem has continued. The clinic later switched the channel to HGTV, but this, too, was considered too liberal.
My suggestion: Get rid of the TV or switch it to the Weather Channel.
I love the Weather Channel! How can anyone hate the Weather Channel?
The Weather Channel is okay unless you are offended by their global warming propaganda. As an Apple stockholder, I am proud to vote against Al Gore every year for a spot on the board of directors. He’s just another liberal scammer getting richer from pulling the wool over the eyes of the public.
Whatever you put on a waiting room TV, make sure it is never The View.
Here’s an idea. Get rid of the patient. Then get rid of the TV. It’s just obnoxious
I can think of no good reason to have a TV going non-stop in the waiting room anyway.
I hate TV mostly. When we do watch, we watch British shows, they are way more entertaining than American shows. Almost all news is slanted one way or the other. I think TV should be avoided in waiting rooms unless it’s tuned to an educational channel. In Sports Bars it’s OK, but not in most fine-dining restaurants.
Faux News is banned in my waiting room. Usually on CNN. There are lots of other docs to see if it makes that much of a difference.
I’m fortunate. Since I hate everybody, I can get along with all my patients.
You have my new most favorite screen name, Sir Lance-a-Lot!
Also, don’t people have better things to do than complain about the TV channel in a waiting room? If that’s your biggest problem, you’re doing pretty well. First world problems.