In the dentist's waiting room

I'm waiting for DS #1 to have his braces put on. While I am knitting, there is a woman next to me yammering on her cell phone to a friend about a party she is having and how to get to her house (on a really nice street in Brookline). She turns to her daughter (about 12-ish) and says, "Did you tell them you were here? Don't be a milktoast!" Between that and the cellphone chatter, I had already formed lots of opinions about this woman. So after giving her friend directions and assuring her that "my driveway can hold 30 cars", she gets off the phone. She berates her daughter for not speaking up (though the daughter did), then goes to the receptionist and tells them how they've been waiting for 10 whole minutes, that she has to be somewhere in 45 minutes and they are holding her up. "You people always give me a hard time if I'm one minute late." She just lit into these nice people for no reason at all. Then, she turned around toward the waiting room for, what, sympathy? Bad move.

Unlike my normal, somewhat lowkey self, I said, "Maybe you should get off your cell phone and tell them you're here." She said to me, "My daughter's old enough to speak up for herself." Sure, whatever. Her daughter was mortified, I'm sure. The receptionist said, "We'll be ready for you soon." I said, "It's not their fault if you're yammering on your phone -- why blame them if you're running late?" Then, the dental hygienist came down to get her. She said to me, "This is none of your business." I said, "Good enough. Then don't talk on your cell phone in here." After she went upstairs, I said, "What a b*#ch!" We all agreed it's the daughter who loses out here, having to deal with such an embarrassing mother. Wow. People are amazing.