irate - ness

The doctor’s office.

In general, people who work in public offices take abuse. It’s just a simple, albeit sad fact, about the general public. The unwashed masses, as it were, are rather typical humans you get on the bus with. They are dressed normally, speak fluently and more often than not, look every bit the part of a decent citizen.

Enter a health scare.

When I had a routine doctor’s appointment during the latest flu epidemic I was astounded, and I mean, flabbergasted by the amount of notes in my doctor’s office pleading with the public to stop abusing their staff.

“Please refrain from coming behind the counter, we do not keep the flu shot here.”

“Please refrain from yelling profanities at our staff, we do not have extra flu shots and are doing the best we possibly can.”

“Please refrain from pushing our staff members or resorting to violence, we are doing all we can to ensure your health is put first.”

“Our staff will not stand for abuse and the police will be called if necessary, please please please wait your turn, we are moving as fast as we can.”

Curious, I politely asked the weather worn looking medical secretary behind the counter what had gone on to stir up such a need for signage?

She answered, reluctantly and not unlike an abused kitty might, that there had been serious staff abuse from patients seeking the flu shot before it was available. Further, when certain people were let in the door ahead of others for the shot (pregnant, elderly, high risk group) people began to shout.

And shout they did. Profanities in fact. Grown ups going postal on staff who had been working double and triple shifts for weeks, skipping lunch breaks, covering each other off for bathroom breaks. One woman who’d been there nearly 10 years said she’s never seen anything like it, that she was flat out called a ‘b*!@ch’ for not allowing in a woman in her 30’s for the shot.

Now, we later found out, well into this so called epidemic, that women in their 30s were indeed the true high risk but no one knew this at the time, including the assailant.

So I ask you this, how much would someone have to get paid to put up with this kind of crap?

Further, what kind of panic did the media create in people to force them in droves to their local doc office demanding to be shot up with a vaccine not even ready for market yet?

Thanks fear mongers, thanks a lot for this.

The signs said so much more than what was written on them. They told a tale of extreme harassment and dangerous levels of fear. They told of an angry mob against three tiny medical secretaries who at one point had to physically fend off people trying to come behind the counter. Oh yeah, they totally keep non-existent flu shots there buddy.

It was like something out of a zombie movie. Rapid adults with purses as weapons and screams for arguments unable to maintain their composure long enough to be told when and where the shot was available.

A massive and dynamic failure on part of the health system to be sure. But the system from afar is to blame, the big wigs making the big bucks who are paid those many dollars to ensure mass panic is avoided and smooth healthcare is available for all. The ones feeling the wrath were on the front line, as they always are, having someone scream in their face for a decision made months earlier in a closed boardroom.