No...really.
Surprisingly enough, I am not referring to relationships, but patients that come in for a cleaning. I have been working for about 6? weeks now and the people I have met have been wonderful. I have met a couple who helped guide the 450 mile Colorado Trail for years, a guy who trains lions and hyenas at the Denver Zoo, and so many sweet people of every age. For some reason it never registered to me that I would deal with people that were completely impersonal. Every week I have maybe one patient who just isn't very personable. I have come to realize that it really has nothing to do with me, they are just completely difficult, mean and impersonal. Sorry if that sounds mean. It's one of those situations where I seat the patient and ask them questions. Don't most people like to talk about themselves? Instead of a warm response, which is what I usually get, it's monosyllabic 'yes' or 'no' or 'hm.' LAME.
We had a phone call this week from a patient whose teeth I had cleaned an entire month prior. Apparently she went to a new dentist and he said she’d only had a few teeth cleaned. Seriously? This patient complained to our front desk girl and demanded to talk to Dr. Ashby. I immediatly was worried of course, and looked up this lady. When I read my notes I remembered her as the grumpiest, nastiest, least friendly lady I’d met in my life. She refused x-rays, wouldn't agree to proper treatment, and yelled at our assistant when she accidentally knocked her cane over. Dr. Ashby told me that there is no way anyone can look in a mouth a month later and say that three teeth only had been cleaned. CRAZY. LADY. I talked to my friend Kris and he said some people are just going to be that way, and it has nothing to do with you. His old boss, a dentist, used to say that that you can have 1000 happy patients, but it’s the one that is nasty or unhappy or critical towards your work that you will remember when you go to bed at night. So true.
I am so lucky to have so many patients who reciprocate warmth and kindness and who are the reason why I chose to become a hygienist. I think I definitely can agree with "It's not me...it's you" and that makes me feel much better.
At work, we were just talking about some of the crazy people who come to the hospital. It is actually quite scary what people are capable of. I'm sorry you had to deal with this "highly unbalanced woman."
ReplyDeleteP.S. That's a quote from "What's Up Dock," one of the funniest Barbara Streisand movies ever. If you ever have a bad day like that again, watch that movie. It will cheer you right up. :)