[11th_VA]

My wife had to go to the hospital in Spain. They took her in while I tried to do the paperwork. When they finally took me back, it was in a huge open bay ward with about 30 beds side by side. Look like something out of MASH, with family members around each bed.

When the doctors came to give a diagnosis, the room would get quiet so everyone could hear what the doctor was saying in their “private conversations with the patients.

That’s social medicine - literally ...

[Bonemaker]

I went down to St. James Infirmary, Saw my baby there, Stretched out on a long white table, So cold, so sweet, so fair.

Let her go, let her go, God bless her, Wherever she may be, She can look this wide world over, But she'll never find a sweet man like me.

[GreyHoundSailor]

When I went to the hospital in Hamburg, Germany to visit my 90 year old neighbor, I wandered around the floor for about 15 minutes, trying to find anyone to make sure they knew I was going in to visit. Finally I heard some laughter and went through a small maze to the break room, where everybody was on break at the same time.

They just told me to go on in the room. When I opened the door, there were eight beds lined up and old ladies occupied each of them. You’re right, they all went quiet to listen to what my neighbor and I were talking about.