Gryphon 1962 - Adm.monash.edu.au

REV UE CASTBack row: Rohert Jcnyns, Den Cummings, Roger Bridesou , John Stoke, Malcolm Ralt on, Ken L evesan , Pet er Warne,Malcolm App s.2nd row: Martin Gibbs, Len Waters, .lohn Castle man. Hcrry Helmer, Mik e Pigg ott , Don Brown, Bill Po wer) Ste v ej akvmcxuk , Andrew Th istlcwaite, Jeff 'Varne, Russell N icholson, Kevin Mci nnes.3rd row,Mik e Hassell, Pauline Spen cer , Ca rla Ma rsh , Carol Pickering. Fay Newland, H elen Da y, Laurel Wau gh,Rosalind Pond , Sylvia T homa. .Front row : Fred Matyear, Dianne Bird, Carol Hunich en . Nanette Slattery. Sue Guest, John Ra ivers, Hilary Savage,Sylvia Meek, Annc marie Szcleczkv, Marlene JenkinS, Bob No rthause o .THE DENTIST'S WAITING ROOMHaving con fessed to Mother that th e filling h asfallen from my teeth a nd m y tonglle has developeda tender sp ot from probing at th e cavity, with allthe reluctance of Shakesp eare's schoolboy, I walkthrough the outer office, read the notice which sa ys" Please en ter and wait", a nd pass to the dentist 'swaiting roo m beyond.Altho ug h it is a lrea dy tim e for m y appointmentthere a re three people wai ting; the business-man,the painter, and the housewi fe, Patients they a rcand patient they must be, Tillie pas ses; th ebu siness-man con sults with increasi ng regularitythe watch a t the end of th e gold chain whichspans his bro ad ex pa nse of waist coat. H is eve ryact ion seem s to sa y, "Th is wo u ld no t be goodenough for m y cl ients; ser vice I give and ser viceI exp ect", The p ainter , nursin g his jaw, feel smore akin to th e h ou sewife and th ey console eacho ther; he tell s her of th e difficulty of ge tting ju sthalf an hour off from work for his urgent treat ­ment and sh e, with broken dentures in her hand,mumbles, "I do hope Johnny is bein g good forMr s. Next-Do or . I sa id I would be only half anhou r", Time ticks on ; the business-man thinksof the clien t whose valued custom he must by nowhave lost; the painter, of hi s depleted pay envelope;and t he wom an hears, in her imaginati on," W h at, 6 o 'clock and still no tea!"I choose a magazine from a disarranged pileon th e r icke ty wick er table. The single, incandescentglobe aw ay up near the ceiling gives a poorl~ght , ,but this does not matter because the magazmeIS too old to be of any real interest toanyone except, perhaps, an anuquary. Maybe m ydentist is in cohort s with t he op t!cia n d own th estreet a nd ref er s to him those p at Len ts who corn ­plain of lack of light. Perhaps my d entist is noton bu sin ess terms with th e n ewsagen t up the street.From the mag azin es my e ye strays to the wa llo pposite. T h ere hangs his licen ce to p ractise, Icannot hel p wondering if th at is there beca use hi swif e will not let him place it o ver their m antel ­p iece, or whether he has hung it so promine ntlyto conv ince those patients he has previously treatedtha.t he is re ~ll y qualified . T!len th~ re is th e noticewhich says , 111 effect , that immediate pa yment isrequi red. How professional practice h as ch anged!I am sure that in grandfather's day such a noticewould have breach ed professional etiquette. La stl yth e re is th e long, typed advice about scho olchild r en's a p po intme n ts, 1 read it in the fainthop e th at m other ha s sent m e by m istake a nd thatI may escape to the footba ll field, but a littlethought precludes a hast y retreat, for I have anappointment and unkept appointments are charg e­able.From the surgery there is a sound, but not ofrev elry. A patient, his mouth distended by a cottonpad, is assisted to the remaining vacant ch ai rwhere he sit s to compose himself, T he business.man enters the su rge ry ; the painter looks close lvat the p revious pa tient; his fac e pales and becom esbarely distinguishable from hi s white overall s; thehousewife looks at her watch and agai n hearingthe voice demanding tea, clutches her dentures andd ep arts. I sit and wa it and resolve to write a bookon h ow to ar range appointments; after all, I willhave pl enty of time to write it as I sit in thedentist's waiting room.18