Ahhhhh - Freak Out

Last night, we spent the late evening/night at everyone's favorite place - the local emergency room.  See our daughter has had a fever since Sunday evening and it spiked to 104 degrees.  We called the nurse line through our healthcare plan and she told us what any good healthcare employee would tell us - call the doc on call, then try to find an urgent care, but go to the hospital if absolutely necessary.  After calling the urgent care and having them tell us to go straight to the ER, we obediently went straight to the ER.  Wow.  What a diverse group of people the ER houses in the middle of the night.  There were numerous people who looked "ok" to me only to magically start coughing or limping when its their turn to go back to a room.  Then in walked my favorite patient of the night, an old man who couldn't hear and didn't want to wait his turn.  After trying (actually sobbing) to convince the registration person that all he needed was a breathing treatment, he proclaimed loudly that he was dying.  Yup, that's right, dying.  He was gonna die right there if they didn't help him right away.  He went on and on like this for about ten or fifteen minutes before finally giving up and heading to the waiting room.  But he didn't stop there, no, he proceeded out into the hall just beyond the waiting area and PULLED OUT A CIGARETTE!  He needs a breathing treatment or he's gonna die and when they ask him to wait he goes for a smoke!  I couldn't believe my eyes.  He headed outside to puff away and even missed his name being called for triage.  What are some of these people thinking?  Are they thinking at all?  Turns out the kid is ok.  Just a viral thing but of course there's nothing they can do for her but say "You have a virus.  Go home and rest."  Maybe she got it spinning her flag in the freezing cold on Friday night.  Maybe she got it in the misty cold rain at the zoo on Saturday.  Maybe she got it at school.  Who knows.  All I know is that I like people watching just as much as the next person but the ER in the middle of the night is creeps on parade and should be avoided if at all possible.  And to top it all off when we went to pay, they seemed confused and disoriented.  What?  Someone wants to voluntarily pay thir hospital bill?  Their reaction tells me Smokey the Bear and his freak show friends won't be doing that anytime soon. Why is it only the wackos seem to get sick and injured nocturnally?  I guess I shouldn't talk, I was there too.  Wonder what they thought of me - the freak with the health insurance?