second try...

... at a flu immunization when I went back to the Health Department on Tuesday. I cannot report that it was another failure, but ready to tell anyone who will listen what a profoundly irritating experience it was, when I devoted my entire afternoon to doing something that should have taken ten minutes. I was there well over two hours, whiling my time away. And by the time I was finally called for service, I fully expected the reception person behind the glass window to say: 'we are closing for the day, you will have to come back.'

I usually have reading material in my car, and am rarely without some book or magazine to while away the time. There would have been hostility on both sides of the glass window if not for the novel I took in the building after parking half a block away.  I am nearly certain all the more convenient parking slots are filled with employees, rather than customers needing services. Why is there never available parking near the entrance? I realize there are a lot of people working in the building, as the buttons on the elevator numbers go up to five. Hundreds of people on the state payroll, which means us is providing for their livelihood - why cannot us find a parking spot on the premises instead of street parking, having to walk half a block just to get in the front door?

I left work early, thinking I was going to meet The Man Who Lives Here at his 2:00 doctor's appointment, after he reported it had been changed from 4:15, when they called him to move it up. I wanted to go along to hear what the dr. had to say, as The Man is not a reliable source of information. If I fail to attend, to hear the conversation in person,  and ask for a report afterward, the most/best I usually can expect is: 'Oh, just fine', which is most assuredly Not The Case.

After driving and parking at the doctor's office, I could not find his truck, so called to inquire: 'what's going on?' He said it was the right time, but the wrong day. Needing to get that influenza vaccine to protect both of us, I decided I should go back to the health department (a mile or so away) after that unsuccessful venture last week. It was not a good experience, though the immunization did occur.

The explanation from the nurse who administered the injection: they were short-handed, as several people had called out, not appearing for work. I don't consider that a satisfactory answer as to why I would sit in the waiting area for over two hours, patiently (really! I was not obnoxious, even though the television was tuned to a cartoon channel and was excessively loud) awaiting to be called for a job that should take ten minutes. There were probably ten other people in that spacious area, in need of services - about half of them were drivers, or just accompanying those who needed assistance. So maybe five or six of us who actually would have a reason to be there. By the time I was called, allowed the privilege of entering the inner sanctum - it was after four o'clock, and I was the only one left.

Wanting to get protection from pneumonia, I asked the nurse if some sort of booster was needed for that as well, since I had invested so much time waiting to enter the warren of small exam rooms. Yes, she said, it has been over five years since the first one, and a booster is in order. Guess what? We out! Come back next week, as they will not have the pneumonia vaccine available until next Wednesday. Do you think trying my luck at Walgreens a good option? Yes, I will!