Wednesday, July 23, 2014

On the road again

(Guy walks in, stands at counter)

Mary: "Hi, can I help you?"

Mr. Distance: "I was referred to see Dr. Grumpy." (pulls out piece of paper, hands it to her)

Mary: "Okay, I can make an appointment for you. How about..."

Mr. Distance: "You mean you can't see me NOW?"

Mary: "No, today is full, but on Tuesday we have..."

Mr. Distance: "But I just drove over 200 miles to get here! You can see from the referral that I live in Waywest!"

Mary: "I'm sorry, but..."

Mr. Distance: "I saw Dr. Referral this morning, and she said that I should see Dr. Grumpy. So I decided to just come on over."

Mary: "Why didn't you call for an appointment?"

Mr. Distance: "I thought that would complicate things. Hey, can I use your bathroom?"

8 comments:

  1. You know that if someone drove 200 miles to see me without an appointment, I would accommodate just so I could see exactly what I was dealing with. Just saying.

    Amazing the condition of some people with these debilitating illnesses.

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  2. How would have making an appointment complicate things? If Dr. Referral routinely sends patients your way, I would have his office staff contact yours and make the Grumpy appointment before the patient even left Dr. Referral's office.

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  3. "Sorry, no. That bathroom's just for our patients."

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  4. What, no astronaut diaper?

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  5. I would never assume someone could see me as a walk-in.

    However, I have been known to phone two separate offices (doctors working in the same building) and explain that I have referrals to both docs and would love to be able to make the appointments on the same day since it's an hour drive. The receptionists are usually great at giving me a couple day/time options and after a little back-and-forth it works out well.

    One time, the receptionist at one office just said, "Make your appt at the other place and then come straight here. We'll work you in."

    I take 'em a plate of goodies for saving me two hours on the road.

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  6. Hmmm, he didn't even know your office was *open*, did he? For all he knew, you're somewhere else on Wednesday afternoons...

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  7. Are the parking places next to your building round? This guy (and a lot of your other patients) seems to have arrived via flying saucer.

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  8. I think the referral thing was just a ruse so he could use your bathroom.

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So wadda you think?