Vet Stress What were they thinking? Waiting room experiences at the faraway vet specialist’s place

After playing a unrewarding version of hide and seek in Sophie’s abdomen last week (reference my ten year-old French Bulldog and her recent health concerns), I decided to take Sophie to my area’s closest neurologist, oncologist and radiologist team (with no traffic, about an hour away in Cooper City, Florida ).

While waiting in the lobby area with all the creatures and their caretakers, I felt sort of like a fly on the wall at my own place of work. Far from being put out (how dare they make me wait!) I enjoyed the experience immensely.

In fact, it was so liberating to sit in the lobby with everyone else that I almost got into it with one of the more annoying clients.

Among other impressive findings from the other side of the reception desk, I saw how rude some people can be to the poor beleaguered front-desk veterinary staff—and how it looks to the well-behaved clients.

In the forty-five minutes I waited (well worth it), I saw two clients park in the handicapped parking spots (no visible sign of handicap permit, of course).

One arrived without an appointment—expecting surgery, no less. They accommodated him when he said it was an “emergency.”

The other handicap parker complained bitterly that he had to wait since there was no way he would hold his cat in a waiting room with five dogs. “My cat is in the car because I can’t bring him in. It’s just not safe!”

Turns out the cat had a large, new model SUV to play in…but no carrier. That’s when I kind of lost control of the switch on the filter between my brain and my mouth: “But how unsafe of you to bring your cat to a veterinary hospital without a proper carrier!”

As a reward for my big mouth I got a double glare…from both him and his wife. And the staff smiled sweetly…and accommodated them (let them sit in a room and wait, why not?).

That’s when a sluggish large breed dog comes in attached to a clueless caretaker unaware of her appointment time, the name of the referring veterinarian, which doctor she was supposed to see or the dog’s condition. “It’s just a friend’s dog,” she drawled, looking around the room aimlessly, apparently expecting one of us to come to her rescue.

Seeing no takers, she sat down and proceeded to speak loudly on her cell phone. Something about diapers and a medicine cabinet full of something her (absent) child needed to be taking at that exact moment. The receptionists smiled.

Freed of my immediate duties, I pulled out of my parking spot on my way to a nearby lunch spot where I could whittle away the hours. It was then I saw a big old Lincoln pulling in…as it crunched unceremoniously into the bumper of a parked car in the hospital’s lot. Later, it turned out the driver hadn’t reported her transgression. Nice.

On my way out, feeling myself above the fray (now that I’d proven myself a “good” client), I clucked to myself when another cat-wielding client complained loudly about how much she had already spent on her still-sick kitty.

That was right about the time I was informed that my credit card hadn’t deigned to accept the [thankfully discounted] amount I was being charged. The next piece of plastic I offered didn’t care to comply either. Since I knew the hefty amount wouldn’t work with my checking account I did the only thing a “good” client can do…I called for backup.

Red faced with embarrassment over my financial mishap, I nonetheless chalked it up to another adventure in single motherhood. What the heck else could I do? Thankfully, the front desk staff looked at me with mingled pity and apparently benign resignation. These people must be saints.

June 12th, 2008

Add Comment12 Comments

<<That was right about the time I was informed that my credit card hadn’t deigned to accept the [thankfully discounted] amount I was being charged. The next piece of plastic I offered didn’t care to comply either. Since I knew the hefty amount wouldn’t work with my checking account I did the only thing a “good” client can do…I called for backup.
>>

post it notes....they stick to your cc and you write your aval. amount on them..<lol>

at least you have "back up" :)

LorriM June 12th, 2008 11:05:00 AM

Try Amex. No limit. :-)

Marjorie June 12th, 2008 11:45:00 AM

Soooo.. You got an eye full.. I manage two office, and it's always an experience to watch people.. I imagine there isn't much difference watching the people in medical office, vs. vet.. but it's an important experience.. and it helps improve the quality of care given to your patients.. I try to improve things in my offices, and I see a bunch from the way the staff acts with the inconsiderate dulls..
Your situation with the credit cards was embarrassing, but what about those that intentionally don't plan on paying.. Have you ever noticed that a bunch of offices have signs for patients to pay their copays before they are seen... I also think that since the economy has taken a down turn there are going to be more people that are going to try to skip..

barri June 12th, 2008 08:14:00 PM

barri, I think that there are a whole bunch of people that aren't even going to "go", and sadly will be choosing euthanasia. I anticipate real hard decisions of gas & heating oil & food. Sadly, pets are not going to come out on top for a lot of folks.

Barbara A. Albright/New Hampshire June 12th, 2008 10:40:00 PM

I could not work in my vet's office. I'd last about an hour before I opened my cake-hole to some beaming doggie mommy. Just sitting there as a client makes my veins pop out -- idiots letting their spastic dogs go zipping up to everyone at the end of a flexi, getting in the faces of dogs that are obviously sick/in pain/old/not inclined to suffer fools gladly, harassing the cats in the carriers, making macrame projects out of people, pets, and furniture with 26' of string. Then there's the petting and cooing at the leash-aggressive beast that is is lunging and snarling at everyone. And the feral human offspring whining and moaning, or charging into the faces of the strange, sick dogs.

One long wait on a bad day a few months ago brought to mind the scene in *Brave New World* where the children were running amok through the ward of dying people for "death conditioning." There were patients who were obviously very ill, humans who had brought in critical emergencies who were being worked on in the back and were very distressed, dogs and cats who were NOT happy to be there. And three or four ersatz "parents" who were making no effort to control their putatively "human" offspring or their randy adolescent canine offspring-substitutes.

As a client, I can be deliciously rude. "Oh, I hope he's okay -- we don't know *what* that is where he just licked her. You better keep an eye on him for a couple months. He's got all his shots, right?" Works for dogs and kids.

H Houlahan June 12th, 2008 11:15:00 PM

Sheez, after reading Dr. K. and HH's reply, I'm really glad I live where I do which is apparently the land of the nice people.

:-)

Deanna June 13th, 2008 04:05:00 PM

So doesn't this make you want to bring in a big bunch of flowers and chocolates to your own receptionist staff??

connie June 20th, 2008 12:55:00 PM

I also think that since the economy has taken a down turn there are going to be more people that are going to try to skip..

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