OK. So I had an Edward Albee moment today. It happened in the waiting room in Urgent Care. I went to the desk. There sat a red-haired, no nonsense and somewhat weather-beaten medical receptionist. She pulled out my file, assembled a package, and asked me to fill out some paperwork attached to a clipboard.
I was chagrined because I could see my old paperwork with all my information in the file, right on the desk in front of her. I said that nothing had changed, and all I wanted was a quick opinion from the doctor and, perhaps, some antibiotics if it was appropriate.
But, no. I had to fill out all the paperwork again. Of course, I might have changed my name, or my birthday, perhaps my address, and definitely my prescription for controlling my temper when accosted by crazy red-haired medical receptionists . . .
Of course, I didn’t say anything. And, that is my Edward Albee moment, because I wanted to say something. I could just hear Jerry in the back of my mind shouting something obscene. But, . . . I said OK and filled it out.
So, nothing big. Just another Edward Albee moment.
I tried to remember the story of Jerry and the Dog from the Zoo Story. I memorized it along with a few of Hamlet’s soliloquies, thinking that maybe someday I would have the opportunity to do those parts.
But, like so much in life, it was not to be, it was just good nourishment while I whiled away my time. It gave me a rich warehouse of thoughts and ideas to keep myself busy while I was filling out useless paperwork.
I think I have done Hamlet’s ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy ten thousand times in my head or when I was alone walking and thinking.
Love that Shakespeare.