What indeed?

Mary: "Dr. Grumpy's office, this is Mary."

Ms. Noshow: "Hi, when is my appointment?"

Mary: "Um... It was 2 days ago."

Ms. Noshow: "Nobody told me that. How was I supposed to know? I need to reschedule it."

Mary: "I did tell you that. In fact, you called me yourself to make the appointment last week, and then I spoke to you the afternoon before when I made my reminder calls."

Ms. Noshow: "Well, even if you did do that, it's not like you made an effort to remind me about it on the day of the visit."

Mary: "You called me a few hours before to ask for directions. I even faxed a map to your office."

Ms. Noshow: "I didn't get it. You probably faxed it to the wrong place. That's a violation of privacy. I should file a complaint for that."

Mary: "It was just a map to the office. It didn't have your name on it. You requested it."

Ms. Noshow: "Well, it wasn't a very well-labeled map, I'll tell you that. Even if I had gotten it I couldn't have used it because the street names were unreadable. Besides, I had a lot going on, and didn't have time to come in that day, or to call and cancel it. I'm very busy, you know."

Mary: "I..."

Ms. Noshow: "Anyway, I need to reschedule. I'd like next Tuesday at 2:45."

Pause

Mary: "At this point I think you'd be best seeking care elsewhere. I'd contact your internist for names of other neurologists."

Ms. Noshow: "ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

Mary: "Yes."

Ms. Noshow: "Criminently. This happened with the last 2 neurologists I made appointments with, too. What is wrong with you people?"