Dear Front-Desk Ladies in Doctors' Offices of the World,
Hi. It's me; we see one another a good bit. I'm almost always rolling my eyes at you. I'm sorry for that. I understand there are many many many many patients in the world, and I (and my child) are but one (er, two) of the gazillion things you have to do today. I really do. I also understand you are most likely incredibly underpaid to put up with demanding folks like myself, who would like for phone calls to be returned within a few hours and who balk when herded like livestock. I understand this is just your job, and man, do I ever respect that, having shepherded my own line of endless hurried people wanting what they want NOW, and how the line never ends and my day wouldn't, either. I really do get that, and I wish you well in life. May your children live long and be prosperous, may you be lucky in love, may you be spared varicose veins and carpal tunnel syndrome. Et cetera.
But here's what you need to know about me: You're just filling up your day, but I'm not. I am not just doing a job, I'm thinking about my (or my child's) well-being. It's my CHILD, my BODY, and both are the only one I've got. I'm interrupting five minutes of your time, but I will spend my entire day deciding if I should call you, what I will say, how to respond to the particular issue in the meantime. I will be up at 1 a.m. thinking about this, wondering if I should have called the day before and if it's a sleepy cry or a pained cry that I'm hearing now. So keep that in mind, please. Roll your eyes if you must, but do what I need all the same. And I will do my best not to displace all of my worry and frustration onto you.
Have a good day.
Stephanie
4 comments:
Baby, you ain't seen nothing till you've tried to negotiate the NHS here in England. Boy, I can't wait to get back to our American health insurance.
Just once, Stephanie. Just for once I want you to lose your cool. You don't have to be perfect. Lose your temper. Raise your voice. Cry.
You're entitled. We don't always have to be the peacemakers, the centerpieces, the girl Mama would be proud of...
Mama will also take pride in the fact that you have acknowledged your feelings matter just as much as anyone else's.
Raise a little hell, Baby!
P.S. Tell e'm, "You ain't seen NOTHING yet!"
Ooohh... What your mama said.
"And I will do my best not to displace all of my worry and frustration onto you" - when you deal with the public (regardless of whether you work in a mall or a doctor's office), not many people adopt that attitude, so it's hard to recognize sometimes in the people who DO adopt that attitude. xoxo jab
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