Hospital Waiting Rooms Are The Great Leveller

Sit around any hospital waiting room for long enough, and who doesn't these days, and you will see that regardless of your station in this life, a pretty level playing field exists there. In general, discrimination does not exist. Okay, there are the thugs and bullies who perform, demanding rights that they do not have, but in general all those sitting patiently relate to one another. As I sat in Wellington Hospital the other day, I watched a young man, probably about 30 years of age, push a young child, whom I presumed to be his daughter, past in the wheel chair. His face was covered in tattoos. They were the type of tattoo that would have prevented him from getting any type of job other than repairing roads. I do not say that in a judgmental way, but as a statement of fact. But there he was, doing what any other father would do, and doing it with sadness etched upon that face. In any other setting he may well have been bullying his way about (perhaps I am being judgmental?) but there he was clearly upset with his daughter's condition and situation. Again, in any other setting the other people about him would have given him a wide birth, but in the Hospital he and his were accepted and accepting. He was not the only one. People talk to strangers. They reveal to each other the most intimate of secrets. I know that some will say I am wrong because those who can afford it will go to a Private Hospital but I disagree. In an emergency, or even for a 'follow-up' the 'Gentry' will often mix with the 'Serfs' and both learn from each other.
Pity most Churches don't provide such a level playing field.