What does it mean?

Any Spanish used in blog posts is hyperlinked to its English translation.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Customer relations: midwife edition

In attempting to find prenatal care, I scheduled appointments with midwife practices near to where we will live when the Guajolote is born, and the hospital with the facility I like best. This was two days after finding out.

I have no clue what I am doing, beyond what the crunchy/christian/conservative/hippie masses of moms say on various forums. I freely admit that. In calls, I asked if I could schedule a consult/interview with a midwife or if it is still too early. All places said to come in. First times available were two weeks away anyhow.

Receptionist:
What's your name?

Me
: [my name, first only]

Receptionist
:
What?

Me
: [my first name - more slowly]

Receptionist
:
Hold on. (long pause) Ok, spell your name.

Me
: [Spelling three lettters]

Receptionist
:
Wait! You are going too fast! (very peeved tone)


Note to gentle readers: My name, while not super common, is IN THE DICTIONARY. It is a word that appears in newspapers daily, and headlines probably at least every two weeks. Besides which, I have a degree in adult education. I have worked with people who are not literate. I know how to facilitate phone communication.

Over the course of our should-have-been-briefer conversation, she made sure that I knew I was inconveniencing her. In the office at the appointment two weeks later, the disorganization was epic - I had to ask 3 times for forms to fill out before getting them 10 minutes after I arrived. And, despite being 10 minutes early, I waited an hour (late) for my appointment.

I picked the other office!!

No comments:

Post a Comment

I've taken out Word Verification and enabled backlinks to be more commenter-friendly. Sorry for any earlier inconvenience!