Special Guest Kvetch

From the crabbily maturing mind of my younger brother, Ryan:


Almost every day I drive past an electronic billboard that displays, in real time, the current wait at the local ER; never have I seen it less than 100 minutes. 


Correct me if I am wrong, but I was under the assumption that if I have a big enough emergency to warrant a visit to an emergency room, I would be seen more immediately than an hour and 40 minutes later. Is the point of this billboard to prepare me for a lengthy wait if, later in the day, I start vomiting uncontrollably, or suffer a compound fracture and have my tibia jutting through my leg? And if, heaven forbid, that did happen, would I really be forced to sit in a waiting room while I coat everything and everyone around me in regurgitation or spill blood for over an hour and a half? 


Maybe the billboard is supposed to be some sort of deterrent so people don't go to the emergency room for something minor. However, I have never heard of someone going to the ER and waiting around that long to be treated for a slight cough or bruised knee, especially when they could just as easily go to an urgent care facility and, most likely, be seen faster and for much cheaper. 


Don't get me wrong, I understand there are waits in emergency rooms sometimes; I've personally experienced it. I also get that a wait may be unavoidable on some less life threatening occasions. But is it really benefitting anyone by wasting space and energy to let citizens know of the length of time they will have to wait? If one has to go to the ER, they're gonna go.