The young woman in the waiting room was obviously agitated.
Rows of a dozen chairs each lined all sides, with most of them empty. She shared the room with eight others. One of them, an elderly man who looked extremely sad, sat next to her. He coughed into a handkerchief occasionally. She thought about striking up a conversation with him. This would be more about sharing her problems and less about cheering him up. She picked up a magazine and made a show of turning the pages. He didn’t respond.
“I had a terrible experience,” she said in a half whisper. His head wiggled slightly. “I was trapped. It was so embarrassing. I mean, to be trapped in one of those things.” She looked at him. He didn’t seem to be listening. She went on, determined to tell her story. “It all happened last night. A bunch of us went to the concert in town. You know the one? You must have seen the posters.”
The old man just sighed.
Not to be put off, she went on. “Anyway, the concert was great, and there was lots of food and drink for people. You know, these mobile things you get at this type of event. One of the girls with us had to go back to the row of temporary toilets several times during the evening. Each time she came back she talked about how long the queues were and how she wished she had a stronger bladder.”
The man made a grunting noise.
“Oh! Sorry. You don’t need to know that part. Anyway, I sat out the entire concert without going, but I thought it best if I paid a visit before going for the bus. Seemed sensible at the time. There was hardly anyone queueing by the time I got there; most of the audience had left.”
She fell silent for a minute. “You don’t need to hear much about what happened next, but let’s say I was in the little metal cubicle for a long time.”
The old man moved his shoulders; he seemed uncomfortable.
“Well, that’s when it happened. When I had finally, you know, finished, I couldn’t get out! No matter how hard I tried, the catch on the door had jammed. I tried everything I could think of to release it, but it wouldn’t budge. That’s when I got scared. I mean, really scared. I started banging on the sides of the thing as loudly as I could, but nobody came! Can you believe it? Do you think anybody heard me, eh? Do you think there was anybody around the whole night to hear me banging?
He blew his nose, and said, “Obviously not. What was it that did for you?”
She looked shocked. “Pardon?”
“Obviously not,” he repeated, “if there was somebody around you wouldn’t be here.”
She stared at him, not understanding what he was saying.
He gave an impatient shrug. “Well, did you suffocate of did your heart give out?”
She looked around the room…