Rant #2,448: Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Happy Monday the 13th.

It is not as scary as Friday the 13th can be to some people, but it is still the 13th of the month.

Let me tell you what happened on the 11th of the month, this past Saturday, and that day could have been anything but a lucky 7-11--July 11, get it?--if not for my wife.

As I recounted on Facebook, while I was forced to sit in my car by the oral surgeon's office that we were at on Saturday morning:

"One more mishap to add to my "happiness" at this point in time.

My son had a 9 a.m. appointment for oral surgery today to remove an infected tooth. A specific oral surgeon was to perform the surgery, as my son is developmentally disabled and needs special care.

We arrived at the oral surgeon a little before the appointment time, and called in from our car, as per their instructions.

We were put on hold, and then a different receptionist came on the line and said that our appointment was at 9:45 a.m. and with another doctor who we were not familiar with.

We told them that the appointment was at 9 a.m. with the doctor we would told would handle the procedure, but they insisted that we were incorrect, but they let us come into the waiting room.

Once we got to the front desk and signed in, we showed them the appointment card which clearly said 9 a.m. The receptionist said she didn't know about that; she had it on her schedule with another doctor at 9:45 a.m.

We waited for them to take our son, and they told us that only one person could wait in the room for him, because they were limiting the waiting room for patients, so I went back into my car to wait, with wife remaining in the waiting room.

My wife texted me that they needed me to pay for the procedure, so I went back into the office, and did just that.

That would be the end of the story, but as I paid, my wife came out of the office, and told me what happened prior to the surgery.

The doctor came in to look at our son and said that he was to remove a wisdom tooth. My wife said that no, the tooth that was to be removed was an infected tooth.

Obviously, the office mixed up our appointment with someone else's, but happily, my wife was there to set the record straight.

I have since made a formal complaint with the office about what happened, and they told me that I would hear from the office manager next week.

Thinking of what could have happened is making my blood boil!

Does anyone know what they are doing nowadays?"

Yes, truly horrific.

I have found that since the pandemic hit us back in February, the level of service for many of those lucky enough to be working has fallen to an all-time low.

And every move the offenders make is somehow justified.

And this is on lower-level mishaps too.

For about the fifth or sixth time in the past two or three months, a simple takeout order that I made at a local fast food restaurant was botched yesterday evening, with food that I paid for left out of the order I brought home.

I have spoken about this before in this blog, but although I would not compare this to what my son might have gone through, it shows that things are simply not "normal" as some would have us believe, and if this is the "new normal," I want out.

And people have forgotten the word "sorry," because I didn't hear it from the dentiit's office, and I didn't hear it from the fast food place either.

As the song goes, "sorry seems to be the hardest word," but saying it would go a long way to making the recipients of shoddy service feel better about things/

From the dentist's office, all I heard was "I see" and "of course," and from the fast food place, all I heard was "I just got in, I wasn't here."

Yup, those are soothing words, aren't they?

The oral surgeon who worked on my son did do two followup calls to find out how my son is doing, which is commendable. I did speak to him on Saturday--as I was shopping to pick up some softer type of food for my son to eat--and he actually admitted to me that he thought he was going to be doing a wisdom tooth removal, but her would never have done that anyway even if my wife didn't set him straight, because through the X-ray, he saw that there was nothing awry with my son's wisdom teeth.

But what he told me was enough to fortify my complaint, and when the office calls me this week--and if they don't, I will call them again--they will hear that part of the story from me, too.

And by the way, my son is doing well, and he was much better yesterday, getting stronger every day.

Look, most people who are working, whether it is during a pandemic or normal times--do their usual outstanding job, taking pride in their work and earning their paycheck.

But I have found an alarming amount of workers who simply and seemingly going through the motions now, as if the pandemic has weakened their minds and self of spirit and accomplishment.

Personally, I have always taken pride in what I did in the workplace, and even now, while I am out of the workplace, I have a sense of accomplishment in my pursuit of a job, even though it has not borne the least bit of fruit.

I personally don't see how you can take a paycheck if you don't care about what you are doing, but that's me, and that is what my wife and I have taught our son--be proud of what you do, and do the best job you can, whatever the circumstances.

But I guess some people are there for the paycheck.

Mistakes like what could have happened on Saturday--and to a far lesser extent, mistakes like what happened at the fast food place--should never happen, because sure, leaving food out of an order is fixable, but extracting the wrong tooth is unacceptable.

And that is the tooth ... err ... the truth.

(Yes, you have to keep your sense of humor during these darkest of day, or you will simply cease to exist.)

(P.S.: I almost forgot. I have a very early doctor's appointment of my own tomorrow, so I am going to take the day off from this blog. I will be back on Wednesday. Speak to you then.)