Time Waits For No Man (Except At The Doctor's Office)

As Dennis Miller is fond of saying--"I don't want to get into a rant here, but..."

Well, I DO want to get into a rant.  I've been ranting for several years now.  It's about time, and in particular the value of said time.  My soapbox is cleaned, shined and freshly painted.  Time to get on it:

It's no secret that waiting is the coin of the realm when we go to our healthcare providers.  We make appointments, show up early for those appointments, then wait.  And wait.  Past our "appointment" time.  And the longer I wait, the higher my already-high blood pressure goes.  It's golf course tee times writ large.  Too many players, not enough space (physical and chronological) between them.  

I spend a lot of time in healthcare providers' offices.  I want to spend less time there, and the best way for that to happen is to make an appointment, see the provider(s), then go home.  But once that "appointment" is made, the process becomes chaotic.  

Not everyone views time in the same way.  This has put sand in my socks and I've become semi-confrontational about it.  Semi to the point of getting up and leaving my scheduled "appointment", then feeding back to the provider that I do not appreciate being made to wait 30, 45, 60 minutes past my "appointment".  

There is a mountain of Extenuating Circumstances at play here.  Patient X takes longer to assist than expected.  Provider A has an emergency and has to take a phone call or Zoom meeting because one of his/her patients has some flavor of trouble.  I get all that, and make allowances.  

But my blood boils when these Circumstances are secret from those of us still in the queue.  When I walked out of a Neurologist appointment, I told the front desk people that Dr. Z was insulting me.  He (and it was a He) didn't have any appreciation for my time, which has a value and should be respected.  

And there was ZERO updates from the office staff.  I waited 45 minutes past my "appointment" (for which I showed up 20 minutes early to make sure I administrated the paperwork that always comes from seeing a new doctor) until I left.  It took most of the next hour or two for me to wind down.

Not surprisingly, news of my protest got to the Office Manager, who called me the very next day.  Apologetic, empathetic, remorseful.  I was given a new appointment, seen very promptly, and made a great contact with the Neurologist's PA (I have yet to meet the doctor--another insult).  All's well that ends.

This situation happens to us almost all the time.  I want us to stand up and tell the providers that they do not get to abuse our time by treating us like mushrooms (covered in shit and kept in the dark).  I know that I'm the ultimate loser here--I could have waited another half hour and seen the PA--but that's not the point.  I want everyone I interact with to respect my time, and make me aware of "why" things aren't going according to schedule.

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?  Been to the airport recently?  I used to live on airplanes, and it was a constant process of not knowing what's what and when (or if) we're actually gonna get on the plane.  A few passenger revolts have spurred the airlines to be a bit more forthcoming.  

Mitchell's First Law of Economics is "If they have it, and you need it, they can do anything they want".  But growing old has some advantages.  My Discretion Gland has shrunk.  There are new pathways between my subconscious and my mouth, and stuff just comes out.  

I'm still polite--I don't call anybody names, I don't pound tables, I don't raise my voice.  I just need the vendors (and let's be honest, they're just suppliers of a service) to appreciate the customer just a little more.  I'm already cranky because I'm in a doctor's office.  Don't push my buttons by making me wait.