Feb 02 2009
“Patients” Is A Virtue
I am sitting in the waiting room of my primary care physician. Despite the fact that I am the only one here, I have been waiting for over forty minutes now and I am not a happy camper. Why is it that if the patient is ever late, we catch an earful…but if the doctor is late, well, then the doctor is late and that is that? If only the staff would call you and let you know the doctor is running, oh, say, forty minutes late. That would be nice, yes?
Knowing that I will be called soon, only to be brought to yet another room in which I will wait some more does not make me feel any better. I have memorized every tile on the ceiling. I have flipped through every, dated magazine. I have thought about how great it would be to not be here…over and over again.
I thought I was smart by making my appointment so late in the day, thinking the staff, doctor, et al would all go out of their way to get out the door by 5:00pm. I was mistaken once again.
