Flat screens have made it possible to put TVs in every doctor’s office and, sure enough, they’ve now installed one in the waiting room at the West Side Health Center (part of the IATSE health plan). For your enjoyment, the audio is turned up to full listening volume. There were four of us sitting there recently. Three were reading, the fourth was looking around aimlessly. The TV was tuned to the Food Network. I asked if the sound could be muted, since nobody was watching. No, the receptionist was very clear about this. She has to make the TV available for patients. I didn’t bother to point out that I was a patient, too.
It used to be that putting a blaring TV in a waiting room was cheesy — something you’d find in low-rent diner or a Greyhound bus terminal. But today, with flat panels appearing everywhere, the unwritten rule is changing. Now everybody watches–and listens. In my book, that’s not an improvement. If you’re going to make me wait, at least let me do it in peace.
Splice Now 
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