Mrs. Pigg grabbed a McDonald's lunch on the way to my office, and chomped it down in my waiting room. That's fine, many of us live in a hurry.
So when I called her back for her appointment, she had a pile of empty wrappers, ketchup packets, a french fry container, some napkins, and a soda spread all over my lobby table. She got up to come back to my office, and I said, "Mrs. Pigg, you left your lunch stuff out there."
Without even looking backwards she said, "Yeah, I'm done with it".
Could be worse. She could have left the remains of the previous day's lunch.
ReplyDeleteThat is just plain gross!
ReplyDeleteDid she bother to pick it up when she left??
ReplyDeleteThat makes me so unbelievably angry! The exit should have been blocked until she picked up her garbage!
ReplyDeleteSERIOUSLY?! Wow...that is just ridiculous. And to the Ovolslo Man -- I almost think that leaving the remains of yesterday's lunch might be more justifiable...you know, assuming she came into the office feeling nauseated. :-P
ReplyDeleteTabitha- Maybe the Ovolslo man wasn't referring to vomit...
ReplyDeleteNo Way!! You called her on it and she still didn't care?? That is just crazy. I guess her Mom never told her that the "Magic Cleaning Elves" aren't real.
ReplyDeleteNo, she didn't pick it up. One of my staff did, which ticked me off because I was going to tell her to do it when she left.
ReplyDeleteCan you bill insurance for that?
ReplyDeleteThere's gotta be a contaminated waste disposal billing code.
-Flavius
say what??? my 5 year old doesn't leave a mess like that. you should stick annie or mary on her. us women hate that shit.
ReplyDeleteSome people are so lazy. If it happens again, simply say 'you'll need to throw away your trash before we can begin, please.' Doesn't leave anything to interpretation.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't have seen her until she cleaned it up.
ReplyDeleteYou could have stood there and waited until she picked up her sh!t before leading her back to the exam room! If it were me, I would probably have been frozen in my steps with eyes wide open in disbelief! Hey, where's the tip?!!
ReplyDeletebah...i would have wasted a stamp and mailed it back to her....
ReplyDeleteher disregard is something she should be reminded about.
Oink! Oink!
ReplyDeleteOk, can you just imagine the "pig"sty she lives in??
ReplyDeleteYou should charge her a cleaning fee!
ReplyDeleteI hope you wrote that in her chart.
ReplyDeleteI guarantee this woman's house is squalor.
ReplyDelete-A.L.
My awesome nurse Jen won't room someone until they clean up their messes.
ReplyDeleteThe other day a patient got pissed because I left for a delivery and threw brochures everywhere. Jen watched her until they were cleaned up.
Some people just have no class.
Don't you think that you should have asked her to rid your waiting room of her post-lunch garbage before you saw her for the appointment? I don't agree with waiting until after her appointment. Now she's learned nothing and will think your staff is there to pick up after her again next time.
ReplyDeleteGuys, I agree with all of you that I should have made her clean it up.
ReplyDeleteFrom my viewpoint- the situation took me by surprise. It had never happened in my 11 years of practice, and so when she just dismissed the mess I was shocked. I should have made her clean it then, but was too stunned to do so.
I'd decided after she was back in my office that she couldn't check out (make a follow-up and schedule tests) until she cleaned it up. But one of the girls did it while she was back here.
After she left we decided that if it ever happens again the patient isn't starting their appointment until they clean up. I agree entirely with ER's Mom.
I can't believe anyone would do that - except I remember all the rubbish strewn over the tables at a motorway stop-off the other week. Some people are pigs and will be if you let them be.
ReplyDeleteToo stunned to comment. Perhaps she didn't realize it was the maid's day off. And I agree with you - sometimes I'm just shocked into silence..
ReplyDeleteI always think of the best way to handle these situations AFTER they happen. I wish I could be a little more on-the-ball and get over the stunned thing more quickly so that I can play the enforcer.
ReplyDeleteBut people, really?! That is just crazy that we have to play enforcer with stupid folks... did no one teach these people manners? Oh, yeah... they just don't care.
Phillipia sent me over from her blog. (I've been looking for a new doctor.) Great practice you have here. I'll be back!
ReplyDeleteI dunno, guys. It probably wouldn't be worse the hassle. The same kind of person who would leave that kind of mess in a professionl office, probably wouldn't bat an eye by making a scene when called on it.
ReplyDeleteWell, after seein the inside of some houses from "Kim and Aggie's "perspective, I am convinced that many humans are filthier than your average sewer rat. Dust bunnies and unfolded laundry is one thing...bugs petrified in grease rotting under three foot piles of unwashed panties and used condoms in food wrappers from 2005. Are Americans and Brits REALLY living in 12th century sanitary conditions???
ReplyDeletePattie, RN
Do you watch Hoarders? I imagine her house looks like any of those from that show. Seriously, to dismiss her mess like that is indicative of a lifetime of leaving things where they lie. O_o
ReplyDeleteOh my f'ing God. You should have forced her to clean up, otherwise you should say, I'm not seeing you until you clean up. If she still bitched, punt her.
ReplyDelete"Um, no, your NOT done with it, because you'll be throwing it in a proper receptacle right the hell now!"
ReplyDeleteAdd a cleaning fee to her bill.
ReplyDeleteTell pt there is a $50 cleaning fee, cash or credit card, no checks, to be prepaid before the dr. sees her.
ReplyDeleteTrue story: I'm waiting on this person at the counter..who is chowing on Mcdonalds..(we have one next door). she's trying to fiddle with her lunch and the cash register transaction. She nearly tips over her coke, then after i hand her the receipt (grossed out by this whole interchange) she stuffs everything in the bag and shoves it over the counter and says "here, would you be a dear"
ReplyDeleteleaves it on the on the counter.
Un freaking believable.