Language Barrier

Last night I ate in a local Chinese restaurant. I have been there many times before and the food is great. Usually the owner takes the order, but this time a waiter took it. My family is very specific in some things that they eat due to dietary restrictions. This is how I placed the order. "I would like cold noodles and sesame sauce. Are there and greens in it, like cucumber or scallions?" The waiter responded "no". I then said, "I would like orange chicken but I see there is a notation that it is made in a spicy sauce. Could it be made with a mild sauce so it is not hot or spicy?". He said "yes". I then said, "I would like a cup of walnuts on the side. Do you have plain dry walnuts without any sugar or honey on them"? He said, "Yes". Ok, so if you are with me so far, I have ordered cold noodles with sesame sauce, no greens. Orange chicken, mild, not hot or spicy. Plain dry walnuts. This is what I got.... cold noodles in sesame sauce smothered in scallions, spicy orange chicken loaded with chili peppers and sugar glazed honey walnuts. I am not a fussy person, so I scraped off the scallions and I ate the walnuts even though they were supposed to be for my daughter in law. The orange chicken had to be sent back to be remade. By the time it came out, we were full, so it will be today's lunch. I think the owner needs to reconsider delegating the job of order taking.

Till We Meet Again

Yesterday was the last session of my winter lecture series in Manhattan. I had many return "patrons", as the library calls them. It was nice to see the familiar faces, week after week. Some of them traveled to a few of the locations if they could not attend the lecture in their neighborhood. When the class was over, I thanked everyone for coming and said I would email them when the new dates were chosen by each branch. Two of the people did not realize that  this was the last session. I could see that they were visibly upset. One asked, "What do I do now? Who do I talk to when I am not sure what I need to do?" I assured them that I would always be available via email and if they wrote I would answer within a day. That seemed to ease their minds. All of the information I told them was really only common sense. When it was said in a confident tone, somehow it was more comforting.

Time Flies

I was very tired last night. I had a long day at work and after dinner I watched television and relaxed. My eyes felt heavy and I kept nodding off during the show. I didn't want to go to sleep to early because when I do, I wake up earlier than I want to. I held off going to sleep until 10pm. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was asleep. After what seemed like 8 hours, I awoke, all recharged and ready for the day. Too bad it was only 11:15pm.

Taken For a Ride

Late yesterday morning, one of my doctors arrived at work. As she walked in, an elderly lady was following her. She told the woman to sit down in the waiting room. We knew that the woman was not a patient, so we asked the doctor who she was. She then explained the situation. It seems that the woman had been at a dialysis center and called a taxi cab to take her to her doctor. After that appointment, she needed to go back to the dialysis center. She asked the cab to take her to the 900 building but instead he dropped her off at 935. When she went to pay him, he said the fare was $10. She handed him a $20 bill. He said he had no change and would need to keep the extra $10 for his tip. The woman was a bit disoriented and left the cab. That is where my doctor found her, wandering in the parking lot. The woman only had $20 and now had no money to go anywhere. My doctor called her a cab, to take her to the 900 building and paid for it out of her own pocket. She then called the other doctor's office and explained the situation. They said that they would put her in a cab, back to the dialysis center after her appointment with them, and they would pay for it. They would then call the dialysis center and ask that they do the same, in order to get her safely home. After that was all arranged, my doctor called the cab company, explained the story and told them that they needed to have their driver go to the dialysis center with the woman's $10, and return it to her. They said they would have him do that. Your guess is as good as mine if he actually did it.

Try, Try, Again

I am still in the process of hiring a front desk receptionist. I had two openings and filled one. I always tell people that it is just as hard to fill a job position as it is to find one. My perfect applicant would be in her 40's and a stay at home mom who just wants to get out of the house for 8 hours a week. Too bad, life is not perfect. I thought I hired someone that could do the job, but she just did not work out. The first sign of things going downhill was when she asked where we kept the magazines. Obviously, she had no idea that there was enough work to fill her entire evening. That is a bad sign. I interviewed a woman yesterday and she seemed nice but, now I am gun shy. I asked her to come in this morning for one hour and sit with me while I explained the job. I want to see if she understands the basics. I can no longer hire someone assuming that they will be able to do the job. If she knows what I am talking about and I can sense that she will catch on, she has the job.

Wasted Words

Last year my daughter in law needed a special medication and went to a local pharmacy. When she picked up the order, she handed them a form that the insurance company said needed to be filled out in order to be reimbursed. The pharmacy said they have a standard form. She said that the insurance company said that this specific form needed to be used, but again, they argued that their standard form was sufficient. She took their form and sent the claim to the insurance. Three months later, the form was returned with a letter stating that the claim needed to be resubmitted with the insurance company's form. I had my daughter in law give me that letter and I went to the pharmacy. I explained that this specific form had to be filled out. The counter woman said that her form was fine. I said it was not fine and they needed to fill out the correct one. She then looked at my form and began to show me where I needed to fill in her information. I informed her that I have been a medical biller for 22 years and that she was the one who needed to do this. I cannot sign the pharmacist's name nor could I decipher the DEA or license number that they had scrawled on their piece of paper. She kept trying to tell me what to fill out. Now, I had to get nasty. I told her that she was wasting more time and words arguing than it would have taken to have the pharmacist fill out the form. She knew I was not going to let up, so she took the form in the back. Within 2 minutes the pharmacist came out, smiling, and gave me the form, properly filled out. There was no need to make a big deal out of this. When will people learn?

This A Way

I am a person that is good with directions. Tell me once and I will remember forever. If I do not know the way, I will look at a map. I never like to be unprepared but sometimes it just happens. The last time I was in Florida, I rented a car that did not come with a GPS. I know my way around the neighborhood but I wanted to go to a new store. I was not exactly sure of where to go so I asked the cashier. I was looking for the new super Walmart. I do not care where you live, everyone knows the way to the a new super Walmart. This is the directions she gave me. "You go out of the parking lot and either go this way or that way". She actually did the pointing motions. I said "which way"? She said "this way or that way". I knew she could be of no more help. I left the store and chose to go "this way". I was right.