"I hate this #$@#%@! place!"

We are old pros at going to the Emergency Room. I mean seriously we should have had frequent flier miles with our oldest. During her first 4 years of life, we went to the ER for several ear infections, the flu, a nurse's elbow, pneumonia...you get my point. We should really be at the point where the next visit is FREE.

So we were only waiting on the day when it was time for #3's ER coronation. Apparently January 12th was that day.

When my husband got home with her at about 4 in the afternoon, she was really fussy and fell asleep while she was drinking her bottle. This is highly unusual seeing as she had just woken up from an afternoon nap about an hour before and never takes late afternoon naps any more. At about 6 he woke her up (I, in the mean time, was running the other two munchkins to dance and gymnastics and then back to dance).

She was burning up. Her fever was 102.3 and she wouldn't drink or eat. SHe just laid there on his chest. So he gave her some Tylenol, but an hour later the fever had actually gone up. On my way home, I stopped and got some ibuprofen. After having that, the fever still didn't seem to be going down and she was lethargic, which is something that is terrifying for even us old pros! So we called his sister to keep the other 2 and headed to the ER: our least favorite place. In fact that might be an understatement! My husband's exact words were, "I hate this #$@#%@! place!"

Now why oh why such strong words for a place that is supposed to offer nurturing and solace to those who are sick and in need. Well...

1. The random people you encounter-We are by no means snobs, but come on!!! Why is it that every

time we go to the emergency room we meet these people. You know the ones. First there is the one who is moaning and writhing in the chair from pain yet when her phone rings she is able to answer it. Then there are those with no teeth who loudly discuss Billy Bob and Norma Jean's latest falling out. Then there is the person who clearly has the flu but decides to sit beside you even though there are about 20 other empty seats. And how about those girls sitting there waiting on ...whoever...and can not talk below a 100 decibel level. Or how about the people who say...well..just stupid stuff, like "Man, I need a breathing treatment and a cigarette!" (Our roommate last night actually made this statement even though she sounded as if she needed 10 breathing treatments and had smoked a carton of cigarettes every day for the last 20 years!)

2. The wait-There were 2 other patients there last night when we got there and we still waited for over 30 minutes just to get back in a room. Then once we were back there with our sick and tired and irritable 8 month old, we waited for an hour and a half before we could ever see

anyone. It made worse that we had to wait with Smokey McSmokey and her husband named Bubba as they got into a fight and she told him he could walk home and if he looked at her again like that she was going to knock his teeth out! (Seriously...I can't make this stuff up!) And what are they doing any way to make you wait for so long. They weren't busy...not by a long shot.In fact, every time Smokey commanded Bubba to look out the window the only thing they were doing according to him was "not sh_t!". They were eating or talking or ...who knows what else, but what they weren't doing was taking care of patients.

And after all of that waiting...double ear infections and a sinus infection. Some saline drops, 2 shots, and a suppository later, we finally leave...at 11 p.m., 2 and a half hours after we arrived. I have to agree with my husband, "I hate this #$@#%@! place!"