They Still Suck...

I was talking to a few mommy friends today and somehow our doctors came up.

(because the other mommies all have the same first name, I'll just call them A, B, and C)

"I don't know what's up with my doctor," said Mommy A. "I have to call and call and call just to get a routine appointment. And the office staff is so freakin' rude."

"Mine too," said Mommy B. "And they arbitrarily changed my doctor, then made me call eight thousand times to change back."

"My doctor's office is frustrating like that," I told them. "And I've told the doctor about it, and he's like (nonchalant shrug)."

"I still think I win," said Mommy A. "When I call on Mondays to make an appointment, they tell me to call back next Monday. Ad infinitum."

"Mine, too! But even though it's only 8:01, they tell me the doctor's full and that I have to call back next week because they only schedule two weeks ahead starting Monday. But if that's true, how can they be full on Monday morning at 8:01?"

This was starting to sound familiar. "Where do you guys go?"

"CWFM." But they said the actual practice. Name withheld to protect the guilty.

All of us are dealing with the same drama at the same practice, except for Mommy C, who doesn't see doctors at all because she's sick of this shizz. And I'm totally with her on that, except that my kids keep getting these emergency illnesses.

Why is it so hard to find sensibly run medical care in this town? It's not like I am a charity case; I'm paying cash here and I just want to see a doctor without stroking out from frustration. I'm polite, courteous, and when I worked, I was careful not to give people the run-around and subject them to a lot of arbitrary garbage. I want the same in return, thank you. And when those receptionists and schedulers are gigantic jerks, I smile and speak calmly, even when my eyes are filling up with tears because I feel so powerless and exasperated by the whole convoluted process. I mean, they are withholding health care from an infant FOR NO GOOD REASON and I keep my polite, inside voice.

That should count for something.

A few friends of mine see Dr. B., who is supposedly "mmkay" (that's a quote) although "her waiting room looks like a crackhead convention and I sit there wondering if I'm the only pregnant chick in Yakima who's over fifteen and has all their teeth" (another quote, word for word).

I always think I'm the only one at CWFM who speaks English as a first language. Although, I can't be, because Mommies A and B go there.

What do you guys think? Is a cool doctor worth the crappy treatment from his underlings?