propriety in sound in critical care

I'm here in the critical care waiting room waiting on, well, I'm not sure what. Just to be proximal to my brother, who had surgery yesterday on his jaw. My poor brother is all swollen, and my poor mom wasn't expecting the surgery to be as major as it was (it seemed like I was the first one to realize how major this surgery is....and then it dawned on my brother, and I think my mom was the only one under the illusion that this surgery would just be a "minor jaw adjustment."

Anyway, the soundscape in the CCU waiting room is interesting. There was a moment earlier where everyone was silent, and there was this girl who was speaking rather loudly on and on about some medical procedure in great (uninformed, it seemed) detail - something about breaking ribs and seeing the so-and-so's heart beating underneath a sponge, and gorily too. And she was shushed by the waiting room attendant. And got all huffy about it.
Space is an interesting thing in the waiting room too. It seems like people really just camp out here, at least, with this girl and her friends, they seem to have taken up an entire half of the waiting room. I'm still trying to listen to see exactly why they're in here. Oh, and she listens in on other people's conversations and interrupts. Interesting. Boundaries seem to dissolve in hospital waiting rooms. Probably because everyone is looking for an excuse for distraction.

Oh, interesting, there's a gender debate going on...involving Barbies and Disney princesses. And this woman seems like she has 5 kids. But she looks no older than I. Yeeeeesh. It seems like she just needs to be the center of attention. She's completely hijacked the conversation between these two other people.

Ok, here's the story. Since she was willing to share so very loudly. Her husband was in an accident after he fell asleep at the wheel, and 4 of the kids are stepchildren. Yikes. Hope everything will be ok. But yikes. Oh, the collapse of public and private space...