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Not somebody I work with, but...
Saturday, December 23, 2000. I've had a cough and stuff hanging around, but now I wake up with horrible pain in my right rib cage when I cough. Could I have cracked a rib from the coughing??? Surely not--still, medical attention is obviously indicated.. too bad it's a holiday weekend!
So I call my doctor's number and tell the answering service, "I need to talk to a doctor. Can you put me in touch with whoever's on call for Doctor A this weekend?" They give me a number for Dr. B and I call it.
"Hi," I say to the answering service. "I'm a patient of Dr. A. I'd like to speak to Dr. B."
"They'll be back in the office on Tuesday. You can call him then," was the reply.
"I need to talk to a doctor today," I said. "I was told that Dr. B was on call for Dr. A this weekend. Is that true?"
"Well, yes, he is."
"I was also under the impression that being on call meant that he is prepared to deal with patients who can't wait till after the holiday. Right?"
[long pause]
"Ummm... I could send him a page?"
Verrrry good, young lady, a gold star for you. Too bad I wasn't feeling up to an appropriately sarcastic reply at the time.
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