Pet peeves

One of my biggest pet peeves is tardiness. I hate waiting for anyone and I always try to be on time. I do not claim to be perfect as I am human and I am late sometimes. But I detest waiting for the same people over and over again. I don't like waiting for dinner companions, coffee dates, and doctors.  I detest waiting for people so much that I am sure I have blogged about this before.
 
The hospital I go to has little signs up saying that if you have been kept waiting more than 15 minutes to bring it to their attention at the registration desk. I have seen nurses come out and make an announcement that Dr so and so is running behind. I understand that sometimes doctors need to take more time with a patient who is having a bad day. We want our doctors to be able to do this but it may make them run behind schedule. So as long as they tell us, then it is okay. You also need to do your part by showing up on time. How is the doctor supposed to do his job if you aren't there at the scheduled time? Are you going to be late or are you not going to show up at all?

There is nothing worse than sitting around waiting for someone who is late and was the one who selected the meeting time and place in the first place. If you can't make it on time and know that, change the time, don't make me wait.

Even worse are contractors or other people you hire who are taking longer than estimated on a job and don't tell you. If they say two weeks and in week three are clearly not done and have not new estimate of an end date, I would get rid of them. When we redid our kitchen last year, I had a one month window for everything. I was very clear with the contractors that was the time frame and I wasn't budging. We planned ahead and it was done on time. I also was very sure to keep an open dialogue with them on what was needed so they could make me aware of unexpected issues arising (which they always do in home improvement) so they didn't cause delays and expense.

The reason why this is on my mind this morning is there was an article in the morning paper on how being late can harm your work image. "How often have you heard a co-worker say something like, “Sorry I’m late, I was on a call with . . .’’ It’s really not an excuse. If it happens once, it may be understandable. But when you do it repeatedly, it shows you are disorganized and disrespectful to the people you have kept waiting. And that is not a good image for you to build. Be on time. It’s the first thing you can do to being more successful at work."

Its not just about being more successful at work, its about being appreciated by your friends and family by doing what you said you would do and not letting them down or being disrespectful.

Waiting for doctors (and others)

Yesterday I stumbled across this article which says doctors should pay you for wasted time waiting for them in waiting or exam rooms. I thought it had some basis because I despise tardiness (as anyone who knows me will say). Why shouldn't I be compensated if I have to sit around for hours and wait?

Then I started reading the comments which made me see the other side. Doctors are often late for a variety of legitimate reasons - many of which are beyond their control:

- A true medical emergency - should they walk away from a patient dripping blood or having a heart attack to stay on schedule? I think not.

- They are forced by their employer to schedule patients so close together that they do not have a chance of giving patients any attention before they need to rush off to their next patient.

- Patients have complicated or additional issues which require more than the scheduled amount of time. What should the doctor say? 'You have cancer but why don't you schedule another appointment and we can talk about it next time?' Sometimes they need to spend a few extra minutes with their patients.

- Patients run late. Yep, patients are not perfect so sometimes we get stuck in traffic etc.

- They have to take time from their schedule to speak with patients who call in with unexpected issues.

There are problem more issues that I can't think of right now but I am only on my first cup of coffee.

I do not agree with the article in its entirety of suggested ways to deal with waiting:

1. Send your doctor a bill - um no. And don't expect a gift if they run late.

2. Find an on-time doctor - Well, 'duh, yes'. If your doctor is chronically late, find one who isn't so over scheduled or poorly scheduled or a poor time manager that they are always late.

3. Schedule smartly - I usually try for early in the day as my theory is they don't have a chance to get behind schedule.

4. Mention the doctors in this article to your own doctor - why? What's so great about this article? Will doctors who hear their colleagues are compensating patients for keeping them waiting actually open their pockets too? Or just think their colleagues are a tad naive?

5. Blog about your doctor's lateness - I am sure the author's doctor reads her blog and will change their ways.

My basic theory on dealing with lateness (which makes me incredibly crabby) is:

People get one 'being late' per year from me. Otherwise I start with out them. The only exception is a real emergency - flat tire, etc. I do not accept reasons for lateness in that they didn't get out the door on time again. If you are chronically late, you will find you never see me because I don't wait around.

The reasons I do not tolerate lateness are:

- Your being late tells me I am not important to you. You do not value anyone else's time but your own.

- You have poor time management skills. You probably do your takes at 10pm on April 15 and pay your bills late as well. That's your problem not mine.

- Its just plain rude.

The real reason I have less tolerance for lateness is that I am not capable of standing around and waiting for people. I have a limited capacity of how long I can be out doing stuff before I get tired and have to leave. If I spend all the time I that I feel good waiting for you, I won't enjoy any of the time we are together as I will be tired and in pain.

Where I go for all my medical stuff is a nice hospital which in general runs on time, or tells you. Most departments have a sign that says if you have been waiting more than 20 minutes, please tell them and they will find out what is going on. I can live with that as I understand that a lot of the reasons behind it are beyond their control. In the meantime, if you are meeting me, don't be late.