What atheists do while waiting outside an ICU, where the patient having critical life&death situation?

Question

and nurse is coming in 10 mins to break the news.
How do they pass those 10 mins?

hiya smooch :) GAWDZILLA

Adam G... you trying to be over smart.. I didnt mean anything like that. Take it as a question and not an as investigation.

Answer 1

If I am alone I will sit and read until I am seen. If I am with others I will talk with them and hold their hand.

I spent hours waiting when my father was having his triple bypass. I also was working 3rd shift then and came off my shift early and went to the hospital so I also had no sleep. I did not pray but spent the hours napping and reading. I was the only one in my family who had the backbone to go into ICU and see him right after surgery and I do not regret that I did so. I held my father's hand even though I knew he was out of it and did not know I was there. I held it even though I knew he would be cold like a human shouldn't be because they drop your body temperature to put you on a heart-lung by-pass machine. All I said is dad I'm here for you.

That's all that is needed, a prayer to a deity isn't.

Answer 2

I actually thought this was a very good question.Too bad you can't ask one and really not get a bunch of garbage back.She never said what if any religion she was. She asked a simple question.And most, not all of you had to make a big production out of it again.I think i'm done. You all have a wonderful life.I don't believe this is a wise site for good Christian people.

Answer 3

My mother just had heart surgery. I can assure you, my great-uncle and I did not sit and whine to God about how much we wanted her to live through it. We hoped things would go well, and since she had an amazing surgeon, we felt confident they would. Of course there was doubt, there always is, but I didn't need some sky-daddy to lean on. No god thoughts entered my mind. What's the use in praying to something that isn't there, simply because I personally had no control over the situation? It's a waste of breath.

Answer 4

Pace, worry, bite their nails, cry, hope, and hope some more. I've seen it.

Oh, and when that was me in the ICU, this very special atheist whom I married literally rolled up her sleeve and told the surgeon that we have the same blood type and I could have a pint of her blood if I needed it.

Answer 5

I was gonna ask the same question. What does an atheist do with his time? I can't answer any more questions today, so if someone can answer this for me I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

Oh, and to be fair, you can trust in modern technology or the doctors working on your friend.

Answer 6

you wait with loved ones, exchanging happy memories of the patient. Same thing everyone does.

Answer 7

If you're asking if atheists pray to an invisible deity who doesn't exist, in a moment of desperation, the answer is no.

When was the last time you prayed to Santa Claus, or The Tooth Fairy, or Zeus or Hera or Ra or Isis, during a crisis moment?

(And Manhattan Girll, that's EXACTLY how you meant it, or you wouldn't have singled atheists out in the question. Don't think we're stupid.)

Answer 8

Read a book. If I have no control over the situation, it is useless to dwell on it. This is what happened while I was waiting on my father when had his car accident.

Answer 9

If someone wants to be an atheist, it's his god-given right to do so.

Answer 10

I sit there and talk with my family and comfort them. And hope that the doctor is going to bring good news.