INNAPROPRIATE: The Waiting Room Picnic

Poor waiting room etiquette is a massive pet peeve of mine, and this had me totally squirming in the waiting room today.  The place was packed with other patients, other IBD patients who may be on severely restricted diets or unable to eat anything at all, and these yuppies bust out an effing picnic and start chowing down.  Now, I knew off the bat that there are no restrictions on eating at this particular practice- something I brought up in my first appointment and in fact had left my previous doctor over.  However, the quality of the care I get at my current practice is the best I've gotten in NY so far, so I made the choice to try and look past the lack of food (and cell phones, ugh) rules for the waiting room.  But in the blogosphere I confess it still pisses me off in ways I can barely articulate without foaming at the mouth.  Why would anyone in their right mind think "Instead of eating before or after my appointment, I'll just eat in front of all of the other patients!"  How considerate!  How compassionate!  How self-absorbed and selfish, you stupid a-holes!  I mean really, even if the situation is that you're the one who just came out of a procedure and is hungry, bring a snack for the recovery area or arrange for your escort home to take you to get something to eat.  I just can't fathom in any scenario how it would ever possibly be appropriate to eat in a waiting room full of other patients, and I really hope someday my practice will get a sign like the one in my pediatrician's office: "Out of respect for patients who may be fasting, please do not eat or drink in the waiting area."  Not that any of the self-absorbed a-holes on the upper east side would bother reading it....