Waiting room

In hospital emergency department waiting areas, patients are triaged by a nurse, and they are seen by the doctor depending on the severity of their medical condition.

In a doctor's or dentist's waiting room, patients are generally seen in the order in which their appointments are for, with the exception of emergency cases, which get seen immediately upon their arrival.

In Canada, where there is publicly-provided health care, controversy has arisen when some important people or celebrities have jumped the line (which is supposed to be based on the appointment order or by severity of condition).

In restaurants, customers may also be able to jump the line by giving a large gratuity or bribe to the maitre d'hotel or head waiter.

Some restaurants which are co-located with or combined with a retail store or gift shop ask customers who are waiting for a table to browse in the merchandise section until their table's availability is announced on a PA system or via a pager; this strategy can lead to increased purchases in the retail part of the establishment.

In police stations, check cashing stores, and some government waiting rooms, the receptionist or administrator is behind a plexiglass barrier, with either small holes to permit communication, or, in higher-security settings, a microphone and speaker.

The increasing prevalence of mobile devices has led to many waiting rooms providing electric outlets and free Wi-Fi Internet connections, though cybersecurity is a concern as unsecured connections may be vulnerable to attack, tampering, or even simply by piggybacking users who are within range but not waiting.

In the play No Exit, by French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, several strangers find themselves waiting in a mysterious room, where they each wonder why; finally, they each realize that they are in Hell, and that their punishment is being forced to be with each other ("L'enfer, c'est les autres", which translates as "Hell is other people").