Spread Love

I am often surprised at how defensive and angry I get when dealing with doctors' offices. I just took a call from a man who says, “I just received a ‘second request’ (he emphasized this heavily because the subject line of the letter he is referring to says, “second request” in bold font) for a…(blah blah blah)…and I assure you it is not.”

In an instant, my blood pressure sky rockets and the hairs on my arms and neck stand up. I think to myself:

Like hell you say, old man, I sent you THREE request! Tell me I didn’t send it…I mailed it to (blah blah blah) on September 6, then I called your office and spoke to blah blah blah. Then I faxed it to blah. After another 15 days, I STILL didn’t have it so I mailed it AGAIN. And you have the balls to call me and tell me I didn’t do it. That’s all I’ve done for 2 months! I mailed 376 requests, then sorted through and researched dozens of returned letters. I’ve spent the better part of the last 3 weeks listening to you tell me, “If this is a life threatening emergency, please hang up and dial NINE ONE ONE.” I’ve been put on eternal hold and I’ve had it up to here with your stupid-ass Musak recordings.

But you know what? The world is full of angry people because anger is contagious, so I make a special point to say NO to anger and instead, spread love. Instead of biting off this man’s head, I simply replied, “What can we do to make this better?”

This happy ending is brought to you by the makers of Lexipro (anti-depressant medication).