Saturday, July 10, 2010

Friday Afternoon Follies

And people wonder why my hairs leap off like lemmings...


Mr. Helpful: "Hospital medical records, can I help you?"

Dr. Grumpy: "Hi, this is Dr. Grumpy. I need to get an MRI report on Harry Krotch."

Mr. Helpful: "Certainly. One moment please. Which report did you need, again?"

Dr. Grumpy: "His brain MRI."

Mr. Helpful: "Which one?"

Dr. Grumpy: "How many has he had?"

Mr. Helpful: "Just one."

Dr. Grumpy: (sigh) "Yes, I need that one."

Mr. Helpful: "The one from 2003?"

Dr. Grumpy: "Yes."

Mr. Helpful: "The report is in storage."

Dr. Grumpy: "Is that off site?"

Mr. Helpful: "No, it's downstairs. I can get it in a few minutes."

Dr. Grumpy: "Okay, I'll take it."

Mr. Helpful: "It will be a while. I'm going to lunch now."

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I appreciate how slow Mr Helpful seemed, but honestly, as a pharmacist, I might come across that way at times.

It took the first 25 years of my professional life to have my state recognize the need for a lunch for pharmacists. Prior to that, our employers assumed we'd grab a bite here or there - BAH!

So, if I'm receiving a verbal rx just before lunch, I make sure to get all the info exactly correct because I KNOW your office is closed for lunch until 2PM!

But, folks think all depts should be staffed 24/7 with someone all the time.

It just doesn't work that way. Hope you got your MRI.

Word verification: orophoo - sometimes life is like that - just a bunch of orophoo to deal with.

Angela said...

LOL!! Don't ya just love the healthcare system? Someone is alway on break/lunch when you need them!

xx
Jaxs

Anonymous said...

Are Gum Queen and Mr. Helpful related??

Val said...

He probably meant which brain, because he didn't have one himself and so couldn't think with it.

!!

Li'l Azathoth said...

"Also, I moonlight as a waiter during the lunch shift, and the restaurant manager is already pissed at me for showing up late twice this week. Plus, the lunch customers tip and you don't."

w8ng2retireRPH said...

harry krotch hahahaa hahaahaa

Anonymous said...

how do you make your patients names? they make me laugh almost as much as the stories

quixote said...

Your hairs leap off like lemmings? You mean that thumbnail picture is not a true and accurate likeness?

Anonymous said...

I worked in a medical records department...and that man is a fool. We always rotated our lunches to make sure someone was around for this exact reason. If he was going for lunch there should have been someone there to take care of your request!! Makes us all look bad... :P

Anonymous said...

Oh, probably Mr. Helpful is not responsible for other people's lunch schedules. There may also be an office custom, which he is also not responsible for, that says if you answered the phone you handle the call, meaning he cannot tell the person just arriving to cover his lunch-break to go and get that record.

Having worked similar jobs, I can say that if you don't insist on leaving on time, you will end up doing five or ten minutes (or more) extra work before lunch and before going home, every day. It adds up, and by the end of the year you've worked an extra week or two. You haven't been paid for it in money. You've been paid in discomfort from having wolfed your lunch, and in getting yelled, and in getting yelled at for being two minutes late back from lunch because you couldn't get through the cafeteria line fast enough.

Obviously Mr. Helpful is a dip, though, since the report that exists is probably the report that Dr. Grumpy wants, and even this Autism-spectrum Anonymous would have known enough to humour a doctor by saying something along the lines of, "I'm sorry, usually we can be more prompt, but it'll probably be about two hours before I can get that to you," and then getting it two him immediately after lunch, which would be an hour and ten minutes or so later and cause him to think I'd rushed it 'cause he's a doctor, and special.

 
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