Waiting--It's Not Just for Servers Anymore
People who think they should never have to wait for something really piss me off. Yes, I admit it, I can be horribly impatient. I'd rather stab myself in the eye with a fork than go to the DMV on any day of the year. When I'm in the express lane at the grocery store and some 107-year-old lady is buying six cans of Friskies with pennies, I want to throw my debit card at her. I still don't understand why the electric company has to have 2 weeks to turn on my power at my new residence when it pretty much involves flipping a switch and they've admitted as much.
But regardless of high speed internet, text messaging, microwave ovens and digital cable, you cannot snap your fingers and experience immediate gratification. Some things you still have to wait for. Parking spaces in certain locations. Groceries. A table in a crowded restaurant. Copies of medical records. Doctor's appointments.
Last week, I scheduled an appointment for a client with the doctor who does all of our work comp ratings. The guy doesn't even practice medicine, he only does independent medical exams and expert witness testimony for legal cases. He works no fewer than 12 hours a day, 5 days a week. And business is good, because he's currently booked through February.
This client doesn't want to wait until February. I explained to him, as did bossman, that it can take a good 6 months to get an appointment with this dude, but that once we got his medical records, we'd get them to the doc and if he had a cancellation, we might be able to get him in sooner. We even sent him a letter explaining this.
Today, the client calls me. He apparently doesn't think he should have to wait that long, because he has an uncle who is a semi-retired orthopedic surgeon. And Uncle Doctor and Aunt Doctor's Wife are good friends with "Doctor's First Name," and Uncle Doctor talked to Doctor's First Name and Doctor's First Name told Uncle Doctor as soon as he got the medical records, he'd bump client up to the top of the waiting list.
Well, la-dee-fucking-da. Aren't you special?
I explained to Idiot Client once again that I had already ordered all of his medical records, that it sometimes (often) takes up to a month (or longer) to actually get them, but when we did, we would prepare a summary of those records and send the summary and records to Dr. Busy and get him an appointment as soon as possible.
I think what grates my nerves worst about my job is the unbelievable sense of entitlement people have. If someone is drinking on the job and sticks his hand into a meat grinder and pulls back a bloody stump, where is it written in the stars that he deserves a multi-million dollar reward for this? If someone falls down on the job, and sprains an ankle, and six months later is completely recovered and running the Boston Marathon, does that person really deserve to get a weekly check for the rest of her life?
I'm a klutz. For real. I walk into walls, I break toes on furniture, I trip over sidewalks. Once I fell off the sidewalk in front of my office and all I was doing was standing there. (Cut me some slack, I have inner ear problems.) I get hurt a lot. And since I spend 40 hours a week (okay, 37.5, but who's counting) at work, it's pretty likely I'll get hurt on the job. And I do. Just last week I had a huge bruise on my outer thigh from walking into my office doorjamb. (No, I wasn't drinking. I don't appreciate your implication.)
When I was a kid, my parents taught me that if I got hurt due to my own clumsiness or stupidity, it was my own damned fault. It would never occur to me to sue a fast food restaurant if I fell in their parking lot. It would never cross my mind to file a work comp claim if I fell down the stairs in my office and twisted my ankle. I don't get it.
Yes, I know there are people who have very valid claims for personal injury and work comp, but a big majority of them are crap. People just looking for a windfall.
I guess I should be grateful. The litigious nature of American society does, after all, keep me in a job...
But regardless of high speed internet, text messaging, microwave ovens and digital cable, you cannot snap your fingers and experience immediate gratification. Some things you still have to wait for. Parking spaces in certain locations. Groceries. A table in a crowded restaurant. Copies of medical records. Doctor's appointments.
Last week, I scheduled an appointment for a client with the doctor who does all of our work comp ratings. The guy doesn't even practice medicine, he only does independent medical exams and expert witness testimony for legal cases. He works no fewer than 12 hours a day, 5 days a week. And business is good, because he's currently booked through February.
This client doesn't want to wait until February. I explained to him, as did bossman, that it can take a good 6 months to get an appointment with this dude, but that once we got his medical records, we'd get them to the doc and if he had a cancellation, we might be able to get him in sooner. We even sent him a letter explaining this.
Today, the client calls me. He apparently doesn't think he should have to wait that long, because he has an uncle who is a semi-retired orthopedic surgeon. And Uncle Doctor and Aunt Doctor's Wife are good friends with "Doctor's First Name," and Uncle Doctor talked to Doctor's First Name and Doctor's First Name told Uncle Doctor as soon as he got the medical records, he'd bump client up to the top of the waiting list.
Well, la-dee-fucking-da. Aren't you special?
I explained to Idiot Client once again that I had already ordered all of his medical records, that it sometimes (often) takes up to a month (or longer) to actually get them, but when we did, we would prepare a summary of those records and send the summary and records to Dr. Busy and get him an appointment as soon as possible.
I think what grates my nerves worst about my job is the unbelievable sense of entitlement people have. If someone is drinking on the job and sticks his hand into a meat grinder and pulls back a bloody stump, where is it written in the stars that he deserves a multi-million dollar reward for this? If someone falls down on the job, and sprains an ankle, and six months later is completely recovered and running the Boston Marathon, does that person really deserve to get a weekly check for the rest of her life?
I'm a klutz. For real. I walk into walls, I break toes on furniture, I trip over sidewalks. Once I fell off the sidewalk in front of my office and all I was doing was standing there. (Cut me some slack, I have inner ear problems.) I get hurt a lot. And since I spend 40 hours a week (okay, 37.5, but who's counting) at work, it's pretty likely I'll get hurt on the job. And I do. Just last week I had a huge bruise on my outer thigh from walking into my office doorjamb. (No, I wasn't drinking. I don't appreciate your implication.)
When I was a kid, my parents taught me that if I got hurt due to my own clumsiness or stupidity, it was my own damned fault. It would never occur to me to sue a fast food restaurant if I fell in their parking lot. It would never cross my mind to file a work comp claim if I fell down the stairs in my office and twisted my ankle. I don't get it.
Yes, I know there are people who have very valid claims for personal injury and work comp, but a big majority of them are crap. People just looking for a windfall.
I guess I should be grateful. The litigious nature of American society does, after all, keep me in a job...
posted by Mitzi Green at 2:00 AM
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