I raised my head above the sea of report cards long enough today to go to the doctor in New Westminster for an appointment. I haven’t had the luxury of extra time to go for longer rides lately and, frankly, the west coast weather has been very wet coast lately.
I have been scooting to school regularly, however, and thought Id take advantage of the appointment to make a longer ride.
Luckily the rains held and I had a nice ride into New West, making good time with surprisingly few close calls on the Mary Hill Bypass. The weather was fairly nice, dry and I was wearing the correct number of layers. The 3/4 helmet with it generous face shield kept my head nice and warm.
I arrived a bit early for my appointment and had time for a latté at Blenz coffee, my favourite alternate chain to Starbucks. Yes, I know I'm Canadian, but I don't like Tim Horton's coffee at all!
I then strolled up to the doctor’s office and walked in, maybe 2 minutes early. The two receptionists looked up strangely as I strode over to their desk and announced my name (Why is it that this doctors' office has at least two receptionists for two doctors?). They looked at each other and then one of them said, “There’s no doctors here. They’ve left for the day.”
I stared at her for a few seconds and then showed her my appointment slip. She apologized - albeit half-heartedly - and then booked a new appointment.
At that point I stared at the large poster announcing that any missed appointments would incur a charge of $50. Remember, this is Canada, and we’re not used to paying money where health care is concerned.
I should have said, “Excuse me, but since you missed my appointment, I’d like a cheque for $50!” or something like that. Instead, I just growled.
But here’s the scooter thing. I left the office, got onto my scooter, and left New West. By the time I was by Riverview (I took the longer way back, avoiding the Mary Hill) all of my frustration and being ticked off dissipated into the wind.
I returned home feeling quite content - happy, in fact!
Still could have used the 50 bucks, though...
8 comments:
You missed out on a great opportunity to get the $50. bucks. Recently I also had to go to the Dentist. There is virtually NO parking down in the Davie/Burrard area and residents parking throughout the West End. I had a favourite steet which now has parking meters. I usually book my appointments early around 7:30a or earlier since I work in Coquitlam and it takes an hour each way. The problem is that the parking meters do not take effect until 9am and while I would most likely finish "in time", you never know. and it just didn't feel right to have to feed the meter from 7:30a with 2 hours of COIN just to get the "extra" 30 minutes that I needed.
At least you got a long ride out this experience
That's one thing about the doctor in New West - although there's meters on one side of the street, there's about 5 car lengths of two hour parking on the other side. And I can always squeeze my Vespa in between a couple of the cars!
Nice post, and I agree - 50 bucks seems fair to me if they miss the appointment. Of course, that will never happen. I would also like to charge them a late fee if I get there on time, and I don't get in to see the doc until 20 minutes later!
Your prescription from this frustration is a good one...get on the scooter and ride...it works for me everytime too!
Under those circumstances Dave, I think you would be entitled to "one free missed appointment with no charge" card. You could give them a call and mention that you will expect to be able to pick it up on your next appointment. I mean, fair is fair. ... what is good for the goose and all that!
Keith
After 25 years of doing report cards by hand this is my first of having them done automatically by a top notch grading system. On the downside, there's way too much snow here for me to ride to school these days.
Doctors leaving early for the day is right up their with their typical arrogance in making us wait for unreasonable amounts of time in their waiting rooms. We need collectively to cut them down to size and make them understand that they're there to serve us without expecting us to treat them like some kind of royalty. I'd certainly be asking for that $50, from the doctor himself on my next visit.
- Joe at Scootin' da Valley
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours.
Enjoyed your posts this year and I'm looking forward to continue doing so in 2009
All the Best to ya.
All's well that ends well. You had a great ride and got home safe and happy. Wishing you a good holiday and a wonderful 2009.
Lance Glad you enjoyed the post - and I agree with the prescription!
Keith You got that right!
Joe I never know whether parents think we're writing too much or not writing enough - or if they just want the mark and could care less about the comments!
Baron's Life Merry Christmas to you as well! Glad you enjoy the blog!
Heinz N Frenchie Best of the season and the new year to you as well!
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