"So the saying goes. I think the meaning is clear - when the chips are down and life is at stake, there are very few people stubborn enough to face that moment alone. But I would add something to the old saying. There are also no atheists in waiting rooms. Having spent considerable time in waiting rooms of hospitals over the past year, you can’t help but notice how the complex faith of the super-spiritual becomes simple, how the simple faith of the barely believing comes to the forefront, and how the non-existent faith of the faithless suddenly rears its head. People believe in waiting rooms because it is in there that you find yourself in a position of helplessness. You don’t know the difference between a fracture and a break, between Amoxicillin and Penicillin, or between a short beep and a long one from an IV machine. You just know that you don’t know. And you want to believe that there is someone who does."