Unless I'm missing it, the only thing I could have done different was say "I'm sorry to hear that." The problem is, by the time I could get a word in, it was pretty much past the time it was appropriate. And yes, "I'm sorry" he had a stroke. I wish he didn't. I'm sure someone will say I'm changing my story but I don't think so. I did not need the background of why he needed cab information.
I got the sense you were most annoyed that he shared his medical background of having a stroke in his explanation, though the explanation in and of itself annoyed you as well.
Background... One of my coworkers ('A') gets a cab to/from work every day.
The story... A coworker ('B') passes me in the hallway and asks if I've seen 'A'. Me: No, can I help you ('A' and I worked in similar departments and often I can do what he does)?
B: Well, you may know I had some medical issue (he might have said a small stroke) a while back and I'm still not allowed to drive. I have to be in at 6am on 'x' day to fill in for 'C', and my wife is working late the night before and won't be home until 1am. It wouldn't be good for me to ask her to bring me to work, so I wanted to talk to 'A' about the cab company he uses and how much it costs and how reliable they are. Can you tell 'A' I'm looking for him?
Me:uh, sure.
Why are people so willing to share medical issues? I'm sorry, I really don't care. A simple "I need to talk to him about the cab company he uses" would have been just fine.
Yes, it is very minor vent. I don't care that he had the stroke (or whatever). I don't care that he's filling in for someone. I don't care that his wife is working late and he doesn't want to ask her for a ride. I thought it was strange that he went into all the extra information when a simple "I want to talk to him about the cab company" would have sufficed.
Overall in the scheme of life, not a huge deal. And others are right, you are entitled to vent. (Though others are entitled to their opinions as well.)
I just think that, in life, getting past these little annoyances and having an open heart towards others, even when they're slightly annoying, can make our daily life a little bit more meaningful. YMMV. (And not that I'm perfect when it comes to that, cause God knows I have my hot button issues, too. But I do try to keep that in mind as much as I can.)
A story that comes to mind when in discussing this, and only sharing because maybe it will make an impact with someone, somewhere. You might know, I'm a nurse. And yes, it's part of my job to listen to people when they're hurting or venting. But even so, the degree to which we listen can vary. In the past two weeks I had two different patients who were having really tough times. Thankfully I had time on those shifts to do this, but during some particularly tough moments, I pulled up a chair, got comfy, and just sat with those patients and listened. Individully, each thanked me profusely, but also said I'd made a difference to them. Imagine that - no heroics, no extraordinary feats of medical brilliance, nothing special, really - just listened and
cared, and I made a difference to them. A little caring really does go a long way. It's often what people remember when recalling things even years later.
Granted, different than your situation, but something to keep in mind when talking to people. I mean, nobody wants to get stuck hearing medical details over and over again from the same person or whatever, but I think in your situation, it really wasn't a big deal. Life does get stressful, but some things we just have to let go... looking at hormone fluctuation when we're upset or annoyed vs when we're peaceful and happy, it really does affect us and our whole being. Good feelings bring on endorphins and those "feel good" hormones can have lasting affects for hours. If you try to change your feelings about it, going from negative to positive, as in, you helped him somehow, you could have walked away feeling good about that conversation. Something to think about.
. Maybe that's why he had what you consider diarrhea of the mouth.
That sounded heartless.
I knew I would get these kinds of responses. 
So true!! I had a cashier once who owned a talking bird and she went into great detail about it and how she is getting older and might die soon 
and neither of her kids wanted her bird. I voiced some sort of sympathy and the next thing I know she was trying to figure out a way that I could inherit her talking bird!
As they say at Flights of Wonder in AK, "I have FOB!--fear of birds!" So no, I do not wish to inherit a talking bird that lives to be 80 years old.
