At the medical appointments desk, a computer outage turned waiting into a full-time job.
Visitors leave with a ticket, a plastic chair, and a new definition of the word “soon.”
On Tuesday morning, the appointment booking system at the Tilleuls Medical Center froze on a message of almost insulting serenity: “Estimated wait time: a few minutes.” Three hours later, the screen still displayed the same promise, while patients had begun recognizing their neighbors by their sighs.
“I watched a plant sprout in the hallway and an entire conversation wither,” says Mireille V., who had come for a simple prescription. “At this point, I no longer know whether I’m waiting for a doctor or the next geological era.”
Management says appointments will be rescheduled “as soon as possible,” a phrase that, according to a local dictionary, denotes any period between tomorrow and the extinction of memories. In the meantime, the coffee machine is working perfectly: it serves lukewarm without an appointment.
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