Perhaps you are actually ahead of the times. As more people bring their own entertainment on phones and ipads, there is less need for TV running.
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I haven’t been too bothered by medical office waiting rooms, but I have been by TVs in hotel breakfast rooms. I don’t care to watch FOX or any station that has the sound and closed captions off (really?) A local news station with closed captions is a better choice.
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It’s so nice knowing someone out there believes the way we do. The waste is disgusting. I love a ballcap one of the teachers at school has, “There is no Planet B.” Fixing or replacing something because it’s broken is one thing. But they show it happening due to whims like it’s no big deal.
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Off topic, but I am surprised that people are allowed to wait in waiting rooms for relatives getting procedures. I had two same day procedures for kidney stones in the last few months, and my husband had to wait in the car both times. He was allowed into the immediate first floor area to use the restroom, and get take-out coffee at the cafeteria (15 minutes max). Never came upstairs to where procedure and recovery were.
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Yup, recently, due for o covid, can’t accompany people to med appts. This morning, H is going to early am MRI. No visitors allowed.
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I was in a waiting room recently. No TV.
I was really surprised that I could stay when my H had knee replacement surgery (16 days ago). He had the surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. I was allowed to stay with him in pre-op, but had to go through screening (temp) and answer a questionnaire. Before going in, I had to use antibacterial cleaner on my hands and put on gloves, a blue paper head covering, and foot coverings. I also had to wear a thin, gauzy jumpsuit over my clothes. I stayed with H in pre-op until the anesthesiologist came to administer drugs; from there I was ushered into to a family waiting area. Everyone in the waiting room had to wear a mask all the time. It was a very large space and people were spread out. I spent a long time there (3-4 hours). I left once to have lunch in the hospital cafeteria. During the surgery I got text messages (said it was from the surgeon’s PA)–patient arriving in OR, surgery starting, etc. After the surgery, I could go to the recovery area, but not until H was awake/alert. In recovery, I could have stayed with him until he went to his room. As it turned out, the room wasn’t available until after visiting hours. I left when visiting hours were over. All in all I was in the hospital from 8 am to 8 pm. It was a long day!!!
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I was surprised I was allowed in the waiting room too. The only change was that they didn’t let me back into recovery, which is what they used to do. They brought H back out to me in the waiting room.
I just took my husband to his colonoscopy this morning. Temperature checks at check-in. I was allowed in the waiting room and everyone there had to be masked. I also was allowed in recovery after. I did go out to my car for awhile but came back in before the procedure was over(they had my phone number when I went to my car). I just wanted a break from mask wearing and the waiting room was pretty busy.
They had two TV’s- one with different medical topics, the other with HGTV on.
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I just started going to a new dentist and they have a tv that shows aerial shots of various locations in Europe. It’s really neat, I almost want to get there really early so I can watch more! They also have jazz playing that isn’t too loud. My old dentist’s office had no tv, but had a nice fish tank and played classical music, which was nice.
My old OB/GYN had a tv and it played some sort of health related talk show. It showed workouts, healthy recipes, interviews with medical experts, etc. It had some helpful stuff on it, but it was so loud. And the waiting room was often crowded. It also showed advertisements which could be repetitive and obnoxious. My new OB/GYN has the same sort of channel but they have the volume much lower and the waiting room isn’t as large or busy.
My current doctor’s office has a tv that just shows information about their practice and the medical group. There is no sound. It’s basically a slide show, showing hours, phone numbers, and other relevant info. They play classical music too.
We have some friends who own a car dealership and they play the Weather Channel and only The Weather Channel in the service waiting area. They also have an area for kids where they play the Disney Channel. They used to leave the remote controls out, but they stopped doing that and just kept it to one channel after some customers got in an argument over which news station should be shown.
I’ve lucked out with not having doctor’s offices that show the news. Though I do know a lot of people who have gone or do go to doctor’s offices where they show the news
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My stepdad’s dentist ( I took him to his last appointment) collects classic cars, so his office has several pictures of classic cars and he always has the waiting room tv showing Top Gear or some other car related show. It’s always on CC though, so it’s still quiet. My stepdad said that one time he was in, they were showing a classic car auction on tv, which was actually quite interesting. Apparently his dentist enters his cars into classic car shows too.
My kid’s orthodontist had an amazing fish tank and a huge mural showing a coral reef. They also had a tv that just showed beaches and undersea scenes. I still kick myself for not asking them where they got that video. It’s quite relaxing watching waves crash on the beach, jellyfish swirling around, the sun shining through the swaying kelp. It was really neat. Much better then the news.
@MADad My optometrist is a photographer too and several of his photos are hanging in the waiting room and in the exam rooms. He isn’t an underwater photographer, but he takes wonderful pictures of plants, flowers, wildlife, and scenery. Those underwater pictures at your dentist’s office sound amazing!
My dentist used to have Fox News on, now the have the Weather Channel.
It wouldn’t occur to me to complain about the tv channel but I guess the news is a trigger for some people. Although I wonder if it’s political because I feel our society is becoming more vocal and more political.
I think it is for some people, put FOX on people complain, put MSNBC or CNN on people complain. Personally, I wouldn’t complain, but I do like it when they have no TV or something on that isn’t political. I don’t want to see the news in the waiting room and why fan the flames and get people ticked off before their appointment?
News used to be news I feel. Now it feels like a political statement which is sad.
I like to be informed about current events. But everything just feels so complicated anymore.
I guess this is what happened when we got 24 hour news (or opinion) channels.
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This was back in 2012-2013, but The Changing TV News Landscape | Pew Research Center found that the cable “news” channels were very opinion-heavy. While MSNBC was the most opinion-heavy, Fox was still mostly opinions, and CNN had almost as much opinions as news.
So it would be fair to say that showing a cable “news” channel in a waiting area will be showing lots of opinions that are often intended to get people riled up about something (and also get people who oppose them riled up about them).