We have been to the doctor's four times in the past seven days. We've had appointments in the late afternoon, early afternoon and early morning. Yet, each time, we have had to wait thirty minutes or more. (Yes, its nothing like the waiting times in Asia that run past 60 minutes but .....)
I've tried to be understanding. I know that they are dealing with unpredictable, human, situations here. The doctors are usually very friendly and caring when you finally get to see them and that often diffuses my anger. But does that make it all right? No. They shouldn't be excused. Not for long waits every single time!
Our appointments last week were all after lunch and I have given them the benefit of the doubt that small delays build up to big delays by the afternoon. So, today, I managed to get the second appointment of the day - 8.45am. I was told that the first appointment was a long one and started at 8.15am. We arrived five minutes early so that we would be on time and guess what? We didn't get to see the doctor until 9.20am. I had Aaron, moaning in pain the whole time and after 9am, I asked him to moan as loud and as long as he liked.
Its ridiculous! How can they treat sick people like this? When I asked the receptionist if we really did have an 8.45am appointment she was extremely off-handed about things and gave some lame answer about how they have no idea what goes on inside. What really got me angry was that when the patient finally came out, she was obviously one of those ladies that talked non-stop because she carried on with the receptionist for a long time. It sounded like she worked at another doctor's and was trying to share all her knowledge with this practice.
Do you think a doctor apologizes for keeping a patient waiting? Nope. Why not? I don't care if their first words to each and every patient is "Sorry" since its in a way their own fault anyway. This kind of waiting time seems to be accepted as the norm. And it leads me to my next question. IF they know that all their appointment slots are too short, why not just adjust the timing?
Yes, productivity is important but c'mon doctors! You all make way above the national average anyway.
Guess whats worse than the waiting? The self loathing that I feel when I have to debate with myself about whether or not I should say something about the long waits? Why do I need to feel that they might take offence and not be as caring towards us? Many people treat doctors like gods. I certainly don't but at the same time, I worry about treating them like ordinary humans in case they act like ordinary humans and take out their anger on my sick child! UGH!
Is there such a job as a 'Waiting Time Minimization Engineer'? I'll want that job. Give me the challenge of cutting those waiting times. I am sure there is a way to schedule more efficiently.
Ah...there is nothing like a good rant. I haven't done that here in awhile.
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rant. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Lets Be Punctual
Punctuality definitely means a lot to me. I'm proud to say that I am the most punctual person I know. Unfortunately, I seem to have friends and family that are on the other end of the scale. And guess what? It is my No. 1 peeve! It drives me absolutely crazy. The only people I make excuses for are parents with young children - genuinely unexpected happen to them that often require immediate attention.
There are two things worse than a person being late. The first is not letting the other party know they are going to be late. And second, only letting the other party know they will be late at the time that they were supposed to have arrived. That drives me even crazier. Surely, they would have known earlier that they couldn't make it on time.
I think some people are habitually late. And in some places, it is expected that people will be late. In Malaysia, people operate on Malaysian time. Its a sad fact that wedding invitations will always print the start time half an hour before the time they hope to start the celebrations. This is stupid because everybody knows it and only start arriving after that half hour and by the time everybody dribbles in, its an hour after the printed start time. And for people like me who even more stupidly hold to the principle of being punctual, its an annoying one hour of drinking chinese tea and eating peanuts.
In Indonesia, the official term is 'jam karet'. This translates to elastic time. You can just imagine how much of a priority punctuality over there is.
I know I can't change the way people are. All I can do is live by what I believe in and then grumble on the inside when I have to wait. But people, its not that hard to be on time.
First, find out what time you have to be somewhere. Then, list down all the things you need to do before hand and how long they take. Don't forget to include travel time. Once you've added all the time up, add on ten minutes to be on the safe side and work backwards from the time of your appointment. If you get delayed for longer than ten minutes, call to say you're running late. Its simple!
*Sorry for the rant but I was left waiting a little too long today.*
There are two things worse than a person being late. The first is not letting the other party know they are going to be late. And second, only letting the other party know they will be late at the time that they were supposed to have arrived. That drives me even crazier. Surely, they would have known earlier that they couldn't make it on time.
I think some people are habitually late. And in some places, it is expected that people will be late. In Malaysia, people operate on Malaysian time. Its a sad fact that wedding invitations will always print the start time half an hour before the time they hope to start the celebrations. This is stupid because everybody knows it and only start arriving after that half hour and by the time everybody dribbles in, its an hour after the printed start time. And for people like me who even more stupidly hold to the principle of being punctual, its an annoying one hour of drinking chinese tea and eating peanuts.
In Indonesia, the official term is 'jam karet'. This translates to elastic time. You can just imagine how much of a priority punctuality over there is.
I know I can't change the way people are. All I can do is live by what I believe in and then grumble on the inside when I have to wait. But people, its not that hard to be on time.
First, find out what time you have to be somewhere. Then, list down all the things you need to do before hand and how long they take. Don't forget to include travel time. Once you've added all the time up, add on ten minutes to be on the safe side and work backwards from the time of your appointment. If you get delayed for longer than ten minutes, call to say you're running late. Its simple!
*Sorry for the rant but I was left waiting a little too long today.*
Thursday, March 26, 2009
When the boss is in town....
Richard's bosses are in town. I hate it when that happens. It means that Richard is away for lunch and dinner and we only get to meet up in the mornings before he leaves for work.
From the little I hear, the mornings at work are full of talk about how the doom and gloom of the current world economy is going to impact the business.
Yet, each night is filled with expensive dinners, more expensive karaoke sessions (with accompanying girls) and then 1am forays into the local discos. I find it odd to use the word 'disco' but thats what they call it here.
The bosses are in town with some suppliers. So, they don't need to pay a cent. In fact, they take full advantage of the fact that somebody else is obliged to pick up the bill for everything. Food, girls, multiple bottles of whisky per night....I'm sure all this is eventually billed back to the bosses through expensive spare parts!
I don't care. I'm just ranting. I know Richard doesn't care for any of this either but he's obligated to join in. Supposedly he hates their visits as much as I do (I wonder...)
His bosses are both in their 40s. Both with several kids at home. They behave as if they have been let out of prison! I usually refrain from commenting on people's body size but Richard's boss is one extremely rotund person with a matching bowl haircut. So imagine the middle aged, rotund man with bangs, prancing into the disco after midnight. He makes it sound as if his home life is so horrible that he mustn't waste a single second asleep when he is on business trips (which is something like 2 out of every 4 weeks). Sleeping can be done at home.
OK then, its time to make dinner for one and a half.
From the little I hear, the mornings at work are full of talk about how the doom and gloom of the current world economy is going to impact the business.
Yet, each night is filled with expensive dinners, more expensive karaoke sessions (with accompanying girls) and then 1am forays into the local discos. I find it odd to use the word 'disco' but thats what they call it here.
The bosses are in town with some suppliers. So, they don't need to pay a cent. In fact, they take full advantage of the fact that somebody else is obliged to pick up the bill for everything. Food, girls, multiple bottles of whisky per night....I'm sure all this is eventually billed back to the bosses through expensive spare parts!
I don't care. I'm just ranting. I know Richard doesn't care for any of this either but he's obligated to join in. Supposedly he hates their visits as much as I do (I wonder...)
His bosses are both in their 40s. Both with several kids at home. They behave as if they have been let out of prison! I usually refrain from commenting on people's body size but Richard's boss is one extremely rotund person with a matching bowl haircut. So imagine the middle aged, rotund man with bangs, prancing into the disco after midnight. He makes it sound as if his home life is so horrible that he mustn't waste a single second asleep when he is on business trips (which is something like 2 out of every 4 weeks). Sleeping can be done at home.
OK then, its time to make dinner for one and a half.
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