Just gonna copy-paste this from somewhere else...

[kiya]

... so apologies to those who see it twice.

While I'm on a rant:

Had to go in to a hospital today to get a blood test done to confirm that no, really, I am low-risk enough to have my goddamn homebirth rather than get dumped into the nightmare of medicalisation.

So.  I'm sitting in the waiting room in the lab for the Women's Health Center at the hospital, right? Population:  receptionist, lab tech, trainee lab tech, three third-trimester pregnant women, and artan_eter.

And because we're a fucking nation of addicts, there's a television in there, turned up too loud, to provide Entertainment for the people in the waiting room.  And because it's the hospital, it's all medical programs, right?

What would you put on in this situation?

What would you put on in this situation IF YOU WERE AN IDIOT?

Yes, a special on medical mysteries dealing with an infant with a mysterious birth defect that her parents couldn't convince the medical establishment was a problem!


Isn't that ... nice.

Comments

[fierceawakening.livejournal.com]

:( That's awful!

[cheshire-bitten.livejournal.com]

errr.... that sucks.

[yehoshua.livejournal.com]

What would you put on in this situation IF YOU WERE AN IDIOT?

Part of me is convinced that most of the front desk staff at every doctor's office in America were hired because the MDs in back felt bad for their patient who had to have a lobotomy.

But there is a tiny little voice in my mind that thinks maybe they're just incredibly clever. This is rationed healthcare at it's most primitive. They assault your senses, including common, until people who don't absolutely need to see the doctor say "the hell with it" and leave. Thus, they can usually get away with airline-style overbooking and most patients are none the wiser because they gave up and left after the first 45 minutes.

Sadly I know this can't actually be the case. The last time I was at my MD's office, the TV was blaring when I walked into the empty waiting room, to the point where it was physically painful to be near. So I asked the receptionist if I could turn down the volume a bit, or just turn it off. Nope! Other people might be watching it. Apparently there are a lot of invisible people in Somerville.

[irishrose1.livejournal.com]

Ah, if only that were the excuse, then at least that would BE the excuse. Sadly, I can say that most of these people aren't like that at all when you interview them, and of course their references are sparkling. (Which, in retrospect, is likely because they wanted to get rid of them! *g*) And it does take awhile before you start getting the reports from patients of what kind of interaction took place. At first, you feel maybe it's all blown out of proportion. Something idiotic happened, but surely not THAT idiotic. And by the time you've come to the conclusion that said person is indeed and idiot of the highest class, you're a bit stuck with them. Sure you could discharge them, but then they get to sit at home collecting unemployment that you're paying. And then you'd have to find and train another stellar employee who turns out to be just as big an idiot.

[artan]

Try a TV-be-Gone

I continually remind myself that I need to get one and never get around to it.

[mindways]

If you feel like switching doctors, my doc's waiting-area doesn't even have a TV - just a fish tank.

(Not that this is necessarily the #1 consideration one have in looking for in a health-care professional. ;)

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

Argh.

Here's a statement that will cheer you up a bit, I hope:


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Thank heavens that's a trend that hasn't reached this side of the Atlantic. I sincerely hope it never does.

And if you must have a TV on, how utterly clueless to chose that as a programme. How about some light comedy or something? Sheeesh!

[irishrose1.livejournal.com]

Oh good lord! I am terribly sorry you had to sit through that. That is one complaint that our office doesn't have, mainly because we do not have a TV in the entire office. We let people entertain themselves the old fashioned way- they read books and magazines!

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

Having had a high-risk medicalized pregnancy, I have to say that it's not always a nightmare.

(Also, my lab ran educational videos. Good on them, if very annoying after having seen them all umpty-plus times.)