I need a space to rant and so, I will rant.
Today, I was working on scheduling a doctor’s appointment with a public clinic for the first time. I have their operational schedule but knowing that it’s a public clinic, I asked what time should I arrive and how long would the seminar and the procedure take so that I can gauge if there is a need to file for a half-day or a whole day leave.
I actually asked twice before I was given a rather off answer.
The person on the other line first said that…
They are a public clinic, not a private clinic, which means that they have many, many patients because they are open to the general public. So it is suggested to take a whole day leave. Thank you.
That was a pretty decent answer, until this was followed by another message that said…
it would be better if you go to a private health center closer to your location for your immediate needs. Thank you.
These two messages were sent with a matter of seconds in between and I was pretty offended after reading it. I was asking about time so I can gauge and plan what my day would like. The clinic is open on weekdays only and is far from where I live so I needed to know. I wasn’t even saying that my concern is urgent so WHY did I get these two messages? They could have plainly said that it’s best to go on a whole day leave rather than a half-day because there are many patients. Essentially, that was the first message. I was already feeling a bit ill at ease with it. Why do they have to tell me that they are a public clinic when I was the one who touched base with them first? I already know. I don’t see the point in diverting me to another clinic – a private one – just because I asked for their advice about their usual operations. It’s also a pointless advice because I would have gone to a closer clinic IF there is one. It’s a special clinic so there isn’t a lot of similar clinics nearby. I would not spend money on transportation if there was a place close by. (My estimated one way Grab ride for this is around Php500 ($10) which is a good chunk of my daily salary.) It would have been very helpful if
It is good to always remember that time is very important. There are people, like me, who do not have the luxury of it so everything has to be planned and considered. We want to make the most out of the little time we had. A little bit of respect and kindness goes a long way.
From their standpoint, I suppose they felt that I have this sense of urgency even though I didn’t state that it is urgent. I have so many questions and well, they’re a public clinic so there must be a lot of people asking questions. It must have gotten overwhelming for the one handling the phone lines. As a result, I just said that I’d do a whole day leave and thanked them. There is no point in fighting someone over text. You don’t know what’s really going on with that person.
Anyway, I have let off some steam. Thank you for reading.
Love, Anj
