So I arrived at my optical appointment yesterday about 15 minutes before my appointed time. I stepped up to the counter and said, “Hi! I’m here for my eleven o’clock appointment.” The receptionist promptly welcomed me as Cheryl Jones. I gave her my correct name. She looked at her schedule and asked me to repeat my name. When she asked me to spell my name I knew there was a problem.
I said, “But you called me yesterday to confirm that I would be here!” The receptionist said, “I didn’t. You aren’t on my schedule.” Then she asked me if my appointment was in Burlington, or Bellingham. I thought my appointment was in Burlington, but I called Bellingham to double-check and sure enough, that’s where I was supposed to be.
Legally, the distance between Burlington and Bellingham is a half hour drive — on a good day, sans traffic, sans snow, sans ice. I told the nice lady on the phone I wasn’t going to make my appointment. I braced to hear her say they’d have to charge me for it anyway, but she didn’t! If I had known that I probably wouldn’t have left my island! Grrr ….
In the meantime I am standing in the optical shop of the Burlington Sears. I looked at the receptionist and said, “I’ve come a long way in nasty weather. Do you have an open appointment?” She looked at her schedule and said, “I don’t, but I am sure we can fit you in. Do you want to wait?”
Sigh. I had a novel with me, so yeah, I wanted to wait. She gave me the new patient paperwork and I took a seat. She went back to her desk. Within seconds I heard her call my name. She said, “Our 11 o’clock appointment just canceled. If you hurry the doctor will see you now.”
I hurried. So, that’s how I managed to have an eleven o’clock appointment in Bellingham but have my eyes tested in Burlington. There’s still a mystery though. When I made my appointment, supposedly for Bellingham, I was given driving directions to the Cascade Mall in Burlington. Why?
Whatever — it all worked out. And, if his behavior was any indication, the doctor had a really good time, too! But I’ll save that story for tomorrow.