Sarah Robinson was just ready for this day to be over, and it had barely started. She wandered into the hospital cafeteria to enjoy her minimal lunch break–thirty minutes really is not long enough.
Sarah went to her usual table in the far corner of the cafeteria, facing away from people. She was halfway through her chicken salad sandwich when an elderly woman sat down across from her.
“Hi, ma’am. May I join you?”
“Ummmmm….sure,” Sarah replied, avoiding eye contact.
“So, how are you doing today, Sarah?”
Sarah looked up from her tray in surprise. “How do you know my name?”
“Well, I see you every day. I am one of the scrub nurses who is in the operating room with you. My name is Bonnie Wright.”
“Oh. OK. Hello.” Sarah refocused her attention on her sandwich.
“Did you have a nice weekend?” I just spent time with my new grandson. My daughter, Beth, had him last Thursday. His name is Noah. e is just the cutest thing!”
“Oh, congratulations. I did not really do anything, just relaxed.” Why does she keep talking to me?
“That’s so nice! I hope you enjoyed yourself.”
“Yeah, I guess so….” Sarah started counting the number of tiles on the floor.
“Well, that’s great. Sometimes it’s nice to not really do anything for a couple days,” Bonnie said, smiling sweetly.
“It really was,” Sarah replied, once again avoiding eye contact.
“Well, it is about time for me to get back to work. Have a nice day. It was wonderful talking to you.”
“You…too. Bye.”
Sarah left the lunchroom a short time later, determined not to talk to anyone for the rest of the day, unless he happened to one of the surgeons in the operating room. I cannot wait to get home to my empty apartment…..