It's All in the Timing

After Mass today I headed over to the doctor's office to have blood drawn for my thyroid workup. I had called yesterday, and was told I could come in without an appointment, anytime between 9 and 4.

I got there at 12:20, pulling into the parking lot behind a small car with a carseat in the back. We parked one space apart from each other, with an empty space in between. I could see a cute little baby waving her feet and her toys around back there as I gathered up my purse and double-checked to see if my prescription was in there.

Then I saw the young mother, who barely looked old enough to have a driver's license, get out of the car and hurry into the doctor's office. But her baby was still in the backseat! All the car windows were open. I closed my car door and opened my windows, and pretended to read a newspaper that was in the car, keeping my eye on my little parking-lot neighbor. I could hear music coming from the car--and then I realized that the mom had left the car running.

I sat there until she came back out, got into her car, and left the parking lot.

Then I went into the doctor's office and found out that the tech who does blood draws has lunch between 12 and 1. No one told me that when I called yesterday.

I grumbled my way back to my car and started it up, and then realized that maybe this was not a wasted errand after all. Maybe I needed to be in that parking lot, at that time, making sure that that baby was safe until her mother returned. I'd say that was worth the time and gas I spent repeating the trip to the doctor's office after lunch.