YOU'RE LATE

So I have to vent about this before I explode!! Made an appt for Emily weeks ago for this morning at the Naval Clinic. Appt time 7:15am.

Morning of the appt, I wake up @ 5:30am to make sure that I am ready and that the kids are ready in time to leave. We arrive @ the clinic @ 7:08am and wait in line to be ckd in. Lady tells us to have a seat and wait to be called. So we wait; and wait; and wait some more. Finally around 7:55am we are called back and escorted into a little triage room for the nurse to take Em's bp and all the other vital stuff they have to do before sending us to a room to be seen. We sit down and start getting 20 questions as to why we are here. My first thought is; well doesn't it say on the paperwork or in the computer why we are here. So I explain again what it is we are there for. Then I start getting questioned as to why I want certain things done during this appt. I am really starting to get annoyed at this point so my answers turn from sweet and polite to aggitated and frustrated. The nurse then proceeds to tell me that the reason for all the questions is we were late to the appt. She pointed to a stamp on the top paper that said 7:20am and our appt was 7:15am.

On a side note: I take great pride in myself for always being on time and generally 10-15 mins early for EVERYTHING!!!! I have always been like that and when I married my husband - active duty Navy - it was second nature to be on time for things. In fact the military has a saying.... if you are on time.... YOU ARE LATE!! There is also another saying associated w/ the military.... Hurry up and wait.

So back to the nurse..... she said that they try to find out what exactly it is we are there for to determine whether we really need to be seen or reschedule. I asked what her point was and do we need to reschedule. She said yes. My blood began to boil at this point. I raised my voice and told her that we were in the clinic and waiting to be checked in @ 7:08am. She said that the stamp said 7:20am. I am thinking to myself - well thats just fine and dandy but we were here on time. I can't help it if the lady that ckd us in decided to take her sweet time to stamp our paper @ 7:20. Not only that but if we were late.... WHY WERE WE EVEN CKD IN AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!

So the nurse sees that I am pretty pissed at this point, Troy's starting to act up (he plays this game of wanting something and then when I hand it to him he says no and when I go to put it back he freaks out and says yes and he keeps repeating this) and Em of course is in her own world probably hoping I dont' punch this lady out - which is secretly what i wanted to do. The nurse starts to bring up the schedule for another doc and points out that there are appt's tomorrow or next week. She then starts small talk w/ Em asking her about what grade she is and what the last week of school is going to be like - are there any parties that week. What kind of advice she has for someone in 6th grade, etc. As I am sitting there clinching my teeth she turns around and notices that I am super annoyed at this point. Being that we were 5 mins late and have to reschedule - just give me the damn appt and let me be on my way!!!! So I snap at her tell her that I am pretty pissed because its ok for me to sit and wait HOURS to see a doctor but god forbid I am 5 mins late (which in my opinion we weren't late). She is trying to talk over me at this point and says that they get that all the time. But there is nothing she can do about. She then tries to explain to me that the clinic is really trying to get patients in the rooms at the exact time of their appt.

So at this point I (as politely as I could muster) tell her to book the 11:10am appt for the very next day. She plugs in the info and prints out a form confirming our appt for tomorrow and says she is sorry.

BULLSHIT you are sorry!! I was sooo pissed when I left! So my plan for tomorrow is to arrive @ 10:30am even though our appt isn't till 11:10am and I plan to ck in and go where I am directed and I plan to keep an eye on my watch. The minute it turns 11:10am and we are not waiting in the room for the doc, I plan to get up, find the nurse that assisted us this morning and tell her that its our appt time we would like a room. Depending on her response, I may go back to the counter of the lady that cks us in and demand a new appt time that our appt time is 11:10am and reiterate that I was informed that the clinic policy now is to have patients in their room at their appt time and since I am not in our room....the doctor is LATE!!!! Its too bad that this isn't a civilian doctor because I would even go as far as having a fake invoice charging them a $50 late fee!!

So we will see how tomorrow goes..........