Friday I had a fun time at looking at art shows at local
businesses. But Monday was a bummer when I ended up in the emergency room to
get treatment for a bladder infection.
My best consumer experience: Wine tasting at Arts Walk
After lunch with friends on a nice sunny day, shopping at
the Farmers’ Market, and hanging up flyers for upcoming events, I spent several
hours looking at art hung in local businesses for our community’s Arts Walk.
I ended up at the Olympia Wine & Tasting Bar. I had a
“flight” of four tastes of wine. Then I bought a bottle of white wine, Salida Albarino, crafted by Doug McCrea of McCrea Cellers.
It was a pleasant end to a nice day.
My worst consumer experience: Being rejected by three
doctor’s offices with evening hours
Monday evening about 5:30 p.m., I felt like I was coming
down with a bladder infection.
Although my doctor’s office has evening hours, they were
unable to take me because they didn’t have any appointments left. The
receptionist gave me the address of a minor emergency clinic.
After printing out a map, I arrived at 7 p.m., an hour
before closing, I thought. However, the receptionist rejected me. She said they
were really busy and didn’t have any examining rooms left. She said I could go
to the emergency room. I asked about the other minor emergency clinic. The
receptionist said it was over by Skipper’s.
Although I didn’t have a map, I set out. Since it’s in a
mall, I spent 10 minutes hunting around for it.
Arriving at 7:30 p.m., I was hopeful about getting seen.
However, I was rejected again. The clinic didn’t take my primary insurance.
Before heading to the emergency room, I stopped at Skipper’s
to get something to eat. I hadn’t had dinner, and they don’t let you eat
anything in the ER.
The good news is that it only took two hours. I’ve been to the
ER several times before, and it’s taken from three to four hours.
It’s irritating that my doctor’s office and the minor
emergency clinics don’t have policies about helping someone in pain. It’s
ironic that I ended up in the ER, a place that consumers are supposed to stay away
from to keep health care costs down.
