The Naming Of The Crew

Hey! You know how some businesses have names that kind of suit them? Like a little mom and pop restaurant called the Do Drop Inn? Or a clock repair store called the Tick Tock Shop? Or a chain where you can buy kids' playthings called Toys 'R' Us? They leave nothing to the imagination. You know what you're getting when you walk into one of those establishments.

You know what is misleading? A medical clinic called Convenient Care.

Woe is me, having been inconvenienced by that place three times in the last two weeks. The first issue was the flu shot debacle when the young receptionist/voodoo priestess kept us waiting over an hour without even handing out paperwork until after the fact. Then we showed up yesterday between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., only to find a sign on the door proclaiming: Closed Wednesday. Visit Our Location in Twentymilesawaytown.

Today, we tried again. Both boys have been sick with lingering sore throats, and an ongoing fever for the #1 son. At the counter, the receptionist/voodoo priestess told me that she was busy now, so I should have a seat, and she would get to me in a few minutes. No taking of names. No insurance card. No paperwork clipboard. Just the brush-off. Thankfully, there was another angry mother to share my outrage. We commiserated until her feverish son was called back. Twenty minutes had elapsed since my grand entrance.

A couple came in and stood at the window. The nurse practitioner herself greeted them. I protested. "I have been here twenty minutes, and that girl did not even take my name. She told me to sit down and wait until she had time." Well. You would have thought I pulled out a six-shooter and brandished it over my Stetson.

The NP, playing so nicey-nice with the very new couple, asking their names, writing them down, etc., snarled at me. "I'm not calling them back now, Ma'am." Like I should just sit there and shut my gaping yawp, and remain as anonymous as if I had never entered the door.

Another ten minutes. The receptionist/voodoo priestess came back to the window. Told me she could take my name now. Said she knew we had been there recently, so she didn't need the card or to give me more paperwork. The NP flitted around in the back. Asked the R/VP if my two boys had been there before the new couple. Yeah. THAT'S why I objected to being left without a sign-in. I'M the bad guy for standing up for myself. The left hand needs to tell the right hand what it's doing. Then they both need to be rapped with a ruler.

We spent an hour-and-a-half at Inconvenient Care. Got two antibiotics prescriptions and passed a strep test. My blood pressure, on the other hand, would have made my optometrist worry.