Mark Knows It All

My wife had some surgery very early in the morning this past Friday. It was performed at St. Elizabeth's Hospital. As she was wheeled into the operating room, I was directed to the surgical lobby. This 1958 modern, boat shaped addition to the front of the original hospital looked much the same as it had through the 40 something years my father was on the hospital's dental staff. Not much had changed. It is a huge space that defines kitsch. It had the same Crucifix, the same 1950's style furniture, the same reception desk, the same wall clock. The elevators to the rest of the hospital were a marvel of lights on a panel showing which of the many elevators was on which floor, a technological wonder. The only thing missing was Dr. Kildare and Ben Casey. Of course now they had several televisions connected to the myriad of channels offered by Time Warner Cable. I took a seat so I could watch one of them awaiting the completion of the surgery. But the seats close to th