Last week, as I sat “patiently” awaiting my specialist doctor, I took out my pad and wrote this entry. Writing this blog saved me having to find another specialist doctor to consult… I didn’t fancy the idea of having to find a psychologist/counselor, so I wrote this entry instead!
I am sitting in one of my “specialty doctors” waiting room right now…. wondering. Hmmm… “Wondering”?!? No, I’m not wondering about my health – which would be a logical thing to be wondering while sitting in a doctor’s waiting room. Nope! I’m wondering what makes him so important that he can schedule three patients to be seen at the very same time!?! Hmmm….
I’m wondering why this doctor has a sign-up sheet that says patients will be charged and rescheduled for an appointment if they arrive fifteen minutes late for their scheduled appointment. I’m wondering why he doesn’t have an area on the sign-up sheet that specifies the time your appointment is for — as if you can’t (or won’t) ask the other waiting patients what time their appointments are scheduled.
I guess that the fact that the doctor went to all of those years of medical school, residency, internship, specialty training, etc., is the reason. But, I just don’t get the logic behind that reason.
It seems to me that when patients and insurance companies are paying so much for the given services, the doctor is the service provider who should be on his “best behavior.” When did service providers become oblivious to simple courtesy? Gone are the years when a doctor who kept you waiting actually apologized upon entering the room. Now, not only do you wait in the waiting room, but you also wait in the little cubicle exam room… and then the doctor comes in and rushes through your appointment time because he feels like he is running late. He is! But, the remedy to always feeling like you’re running late is: don’t schedule three patients for the same fifteen minute block!!!
When I complain about such small irritations to my husband (since I don’t have the nerve to complain to the doctor) his response is always the same: “Why are you in such a hurry?” followed by “You would never make it in the work force today.” My response is always the same: “Thanks for listening. If I can’t complain to you, then who?”
Boy do I feel better after writing this off-Cozy Mystery subject entry! It saves me from hearing my husband’s “same old-same old” response!
Here are some Fun Massachusetts Facts: