Hi everybody. Thanks for the good thoughts. Sorry to be MIA so long. Between being sick and wrestling with extra appts. and all the other whirlwind/chaos that ruffles one's life through the holidays, I thought I'd never get back. I won't be able to post again until the weekend, but it won't be for lack of trying until I can get on an even keel again...and then I'll get to everyone else's blogs.
My next few posts will reflect some of what has occurred. I am going to rant, some. No news to anybody reading, but, modern life has just gotten so annoying. Complicated. People so rude. Seems that people dealing with others for a living (receptionists, clerks, etc.) aren't even making a faith effort not to appear rude. Not having a regular job-job, with limited trips to town, provides a buffer against a bit of this, I suppose, and helps me muscle through when confronted with it. Sometimes, though, I think being somewhat insulated makes the rudeness feel fresh, like a slap on the face, because I've forgotten most of the world of strangers one is forced to interact with can sometimes be so inept, so incompetent, or so just plain rude it hits you up the side of the head....
For example. Feeling ill last Thursday afternoon, I cancelled seeing An Education with friends and drove home to find that one of my doctor offices called to confirm I had something nasty ( a UTI. If you don't know what this is, you're probably a man. If you're a woman and still don't know, good for you. I hope you never have to find out), and needed antibiotics, but had to drive back into town to pee in a cup before I could get meds. Since it was 3 p.m. when they called and I wasn't home yet, Excy said that wouldn't happen that day, and it was agreed upon they'd send the orders to the lab and I could go tomorrow when I made it back to town. (An hour's drive round-trip just to pee in a cup. Sigh).
When I get home I go to bed and sleep from 5 p.m. to 11:30 a.m. When I finally drag back to town, the receptionist at the lab ruffles briefly through some papers and says she hasn't any orders for me. WTF?! The doctor's office closes at noon on Fridays and it's 2:30 p.m. The receptionist calls up, gets no one, and shrugs. She says I can go up to the office to see if anyone's still there (though they didn't answer the phone). I trudge off and sure enough, it's closed up and dark. I go back to the lab. This receptionist sees me every month or two. I'm referred to there as 'a regular.' She still treats me with utter disregard and indifference every time I'm in there, though I am always friendly and courteous to her. I don't take offense. She treats everyone that way. I have tried to be super-pleasant. Nothing's worked so far. (Note to self: resort to my time-honored bribe for difficult medical personnel -- my goodie bag. An arsenal of skin-care treats and lip balms I hand out.)*
This woman is deaf to my reasoning that the order will come though--that I live 65 miles away--I don't have a kidney and am facing a transplant and can't wait a weekend for the meds--surely she sees the gravity of the situation--you can't risk kidney failure for this--Again she shrugs. She's a stone. A fat squatting toad. Who would have slammed that stupid frosted glass divider in my face if a tech hadn't been standing behind her listening to all this. This tech took pity on me and said she'd talk to someone to see what she could do. Thank you for an angel in the office. Within minutes I got my culture taken. By the time I got to the car, Excy said the doctor had just run into the building. So we waited a few minutes to ambush him on the way back out and got my script. Disaster averted.
Why is this kind of anxiety and stress 'the norm?' No wonder we're all worn-out by the end of the day....
* I'm all for 'whatever works' -- and the goody bag bribes work nicely. Through the years I've melted the heart of the coldest iron maiden/man, and have gotten quicker appointments, faster MRIs, less wait times, etc.
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14 comments:
I can't believe it. What the hell is wrong with that woman.... Can't your Dr. just give you a scrip for antibiotics you can renew whenever you have a UTI? I get them frequently, and that's what she did for me since I know exactly what is happening...
Next time you should just pee on her desk! (I can't believe they called you to tell you you have a UTI, but still made you come in to pee in the cup. Seems like overkill.)
I can't believe that person acted with such ignorance and rudeness.
Are you kidding me, that just makes me so mad. People are so rude and I think it is getting worse. You could have peed in the cup and put it right smack in the middle of her desk! hehehe
oh Amy, bless your heart you deserve better than that.
I really have a disdain for doctors offices though.
get well, and take care, but above all DO NOT STRESS.
BIG HUGS
I know what you mean about being buffered from the rudeness. I feel the same way. I don't get rude medical people. It's their job to work with the public. If you can't handle it, find a different job and make room for someone who can.
How frustrating. I agree that the world has become such a impersonal thing. No one seems to be able to see around "red tape" and see the person. Sorry you had to do this.
Knowing how you feel about rudeness, I am continually amazed at how gracefully you hand the rude and ignorant of the world.
If you could see the documentary Sick Around The U.S. and another Sick Around The World, you'd know that the systems we have are broken, every one, and are as crappy for the people working in them as they are for patients. Outside of the medical arena, people may talk about customer service, but profit, rather than people, is the bottom line. When money is your bottom line, you no longer see the person in front of you as anything other than a number.
My Award is up, thanks!
All of that is no good! Just know that I'm still praying for you...and there are some people in the world that work every day to be as kind as possible. Holly
I wish I could say this is hard to believe but, sadly, we've had the same kind of experiences. I'll have to remember the goody bag approach. Hope you're feeling better soon. My daughter is on round 2 of antibiotics for a UTI which is tough since she doesn't handle antibiotics very well. It is no fun.
Yours is such an incredible story, I'm always thing about what you go through.
My prayers, Secretia
I understand why you'd want to do the goodie bag - but I resent the need for it. It's one thing to do it for someone who goes above and beyond, and another to do it as a bribe so that someone, who's already being paid to do a job, actually does said job. Burns my ass with a twelve-inch flame every time ...
As for making you pee in a cup before they'd give you a scrip - that's beyond outrageous. They already know it's a UTI. What else do they need? And it's not like you're asking for narcotics, it's for antibiotics.
I say don't waste a goody bag on the fat squatting toads of the world. I vote you bomb their cars with dog shit. Yep, that's my vote. Good will towards men and all that.
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