Flu jab

Just been for my flu jab at the doctors surgery. The text told me to get there between 10-11am to check in, line up and be seen by the nurse. Sounded simple.

I got there for 09:50 and was faced with a queue of people, mainly elderly, snaking round the corner and down two further roads.

I joined the back of the line. The lady in front of me told me she was 92 and looked rather frail. She was worried about standing for so long. She sat on the wall as I promised her I would keep her place in the queue, which was getting longer by the second.

After 45 minutes I checked in and found myself penned in a small waiting room with over 60 people looking for their name to show up on a small screen calling them to go through to the nurse.

Most of the elderly were standing stoicly, refusing to give in and take one of the 5 chairs. I wasn't sure if they were really ok or if they were in silent competition with each other not to give in.

The man in front of me was telling anyone that would listen that he was having an operation on his sphincter and that they were using skin of his mouth to 'fix it'. I silently thought about the obvious joke and wondered if it would eventually be his punchline. It was.

My name appeared on the screen. I walked in, sat down, had my jab and walked out in under 30 seconds.

Walking out into the fresh air I thought about what improvements I could of made had I planned that day. I am grateful for the NHS doctors who spent their weekend jabbing us all, that it was free, but a little more thought into the actual process by the surgery would have made it so much more efficient and comfortable for their customers, who would have really appreciated it.