Hospitals, Airports, and Mr. Spock

While I wouldn't call it the highlight of my day, getting dad back and from the hospital was essentially what I did today to be productive.

While there, I noticed something odd. Hospitals and airports have something very important in common. In both cases, the system is setup up for the purpose of efficiently getting a large number of people (passengers or patients) organized to be serviced (Doctor or Pilot/Crew).

In both cases, as the client, your free will and decision making is marginalized so that the system can run more smooth. The end result is frustration on the part of individuals.

You have to show up very early for your flight and for the hospital. A 2.5 hour airtime flight from Newark to Miami really ends up taking 5 hours when you add the time to get to the airport, park the car, get through security, and then wait to take-off. When you get there, add time waiting for luggage. At the hospital, you have to get there early so that the nurses/staff can get you prepared and lined-up to see the doctor.

In both places, time feels like it has slowed to a crawl. Why? Because you are completely at the mercy of the system.

Not that anything can be done about this. At the end of the day, as Spock said, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or in this case the one".