You Wait Longer Than You Have To

Some things are worth waiting for, but many are not. You should arrive at your appointment on time, and you usually do, but the person who you are to see and gave you the appointment should also see you when he told you. Medical offices are notorious for making you wait, for what? Was there an emergency or merely overbooking. My limit is one hour. The few times that I went up to the desk and told the clerk/receptionist that I was leaving they were flabbergasted. Of course you shouldn't leave if blood is gushing out of your body but if it's something that can wait just make another appointment and leave. (If you gush blood all over the receptionist she'll get you in very quickly). If everyone who didn't have a true emergency would leave after an hour then the appointment makers would change their schedules/appointments so we would not have to wait - sometimes for hours. If the appointments become backed up, courtesy would dictate, the patients waiting should be notified and given the choice to make another appointment or stay. Most, I believe, would choose to stay. Patients aren't oblivious to what goes on in the examination rooms, after all, we've all been back there. I'm not talking about when, for an emergency, you go to a clinic or the emergency room at the hospital and you don't have an appointment. Then, you are at the mercy by the number of patients prior to your arrival. Unless you're gushing blood. It isn't only medical people but also lawyers and other professional persons. You have an appointment for a job interview. You're nervous enough as it is without having to cool your heals while "Mr. Important" has you wait a half hour. Now all you want to do is punch him in the face and leave. The job interview, by then, will probably not go well. But if a receptionist had come out and notified you at the designated time that there would be a one-half hour delay, with a reasonable explanation, you would not be as aggrevated, and you could still have a good interview. Courtesy goes a long way. The clerks who make you wait while they chit-chat with each other. Just leave your purchases on the counter. So, when you feel that you've spent more time than what you'll get out of it is worth -- just leave.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here is an interesting scenario that is all too common. Your appointment is at 10:30. It's now 11:00. You begin to tire staring at a frivolous magazine so, you look around the waiting room looking for someone who looks somewhat normal. You start a conversation with that person and find out not only was their appointment also at 10:30 but as others hear the ongoing conversation, there are three others with a 10:30 appointment. Nice scheduling there.

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