The big lie, \u201cI\u2019ll be right with you.\u201d You get this when you\u2019ve been in line for a while and finally it\u2019s your turn. You step to the counter and hear, \u201cI\u2019ll be right with,\u201d as the clerk runs to the storage room or answers their cell phone, or heaven forbid, closes the counter and goes on break. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s bad, but the medical version is worse. You go to the check in desk, hand over your insurance cards, your driver\u2019s license, state your birth date, answer a list of questions and find a seat after being told, \u201cThe doctor will be right with you.\u201d Sometimes the doctor is, but more likely, you face an indeterminate wait: 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes; time crawls by, because you don\u2019t know how long it will be. And that\u2019s just the first round. Next, you\u2019re taken to the \u201clittle\u201d room and get a second, \u201cThe doctor will be right with you.\u201d No, they won\u2019t! You get to gaze at anatomy charts and pictures of horrible repercussions of the malady you came to have checked out. It\u2019s a grim wait. The minute hand on your watch barely moves. Each tick takes forever; you tap your watch to see if it\u2019s working. Ten minutes becomes a lifetime, longer than the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas when you were a five-year-old kid. <\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t have to be this way. We don\u2019t mind waiting for doctors if it\u2019s because they are taking time with another patient to provide thorough and quality medical care. It is the not knowing how long the wait will be that causes the angst. It would be so much easier if you were told it would be 10 minutes; it will be 20 minutes, or whatever. And, then updated when that promised time has elapsed. The information is at hand; the person who told you the doctor would be right with you knows. It just isn\u2019t dispersed and is the reason so many people are on blood pressure medicine. The profession calls it the white coat syndrome. But, it really is the undefined wait time that causes your pressure to go up! <\/p>\n
The next time I\u2019m told that the doctor will be right with me, I\u2019m not going to let it go unchallenged. \u201cHow long will I have to wait? And, what\u2019s your name and birth date so I can follow up with you if you lied?\u201d Let their blood pressure go up for a change. <\/p>\n