| | The reception and facilities management staff at Kaiser Permanente must
be seriously underpaid. Either that, or Kaiser has to be
preferentially hiring mentally unstable people. I'm going to stop
short of calling them arrogant racists. Well, one arrogant racist.
This morning I took my mom to the new Kaiser complex, and upon arrival
she discovered that the indicated address on her appointment letter was
the old complex. Which was a bit strange, because her first
appointment regarding this particular checkup was at the new
place....but in any case, I drove her to the nearby old campus,
slightly confused.
Turns out the department had already moved to the new HQ that we just
came from, and the only remaining staff from that department still in
the old buildings were miscellaneous outpatient guys. We were
directed to return to the new complex and not to worry about being
late. Slightly irked about the wasted effort, I took my mom back
to the new place. I'm not blaming anybody yet...they just printed
some out-of-date letters with the old address and I'm not too picky
about misunderstood locations.
Upon parking at the new Kaiser complex again, a bulky, orange-clad
private parking enforcement guy runs up to me and wags his finger at
me. "No parking backwards."
Next time, put up some signs. I don't take finger-waving fatsos very well. I said "okay."
We went to the proper reception desk and my mom handed her papers
in. We were two minutes late, and my mom was advised to arrive 30
minutes early. The woman looked at the clock and began to frown,
so my mom began to explain in a sheepish manner, "It's not my fault,
the letter told me to go to the old building--"
"Okay, calm down, don't yell. Don't yell!!"
"I'm not yelling; I--"
"Yes you are."
At this point, I had to interrupt, "Ma'am, I don't think she was yelling." The bitch was screaming louder than my mom.
"She was." Her voice projected throughout the lobby. Some elderly sitting in the lounge began to look at us.
I decided not to make a scene by demonstrating what "yelling"
means, or demonstrating that just because we're Chinese doesn't mean
you get to embarrass us in front of the waiting room. I'm due
back in an hour and a half to pick my mom up after
her checkup...I suppose I've had enough attention for today.
Hopefully when I go there for any sort of treatment, I'll face some sane or remotely respectful people.
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| | Posted 11/4/2005 10:57 AM - 7 comments
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