Give It To Me Straight

Beware the bureaucracy. Catchphrase of the new millennium.

A friend of mine had an interesting story to tell. He has power of attorney for his rich 91-year-old uncle. When the uncle felt he had to make an urgent trip to the hospital, he called my buddy . . . who told him to call 9-1-1 instead.

When he learned that an ambulance would come to fetch him, the uncle asked, “Now who’s going to pay for this?” Now that’s how rich people get and stay rich; they’re always looking out for the bottom line, even when they’re nonagenarians in medical distress.

Anyway, the story doesn’t end there. It’s just beginning. My friend was too busy all week to check on his uncle, but decided with his wife to make a trip to the hospital to see how he was doing this past Saturday.

When they arrived at the hospital, staff told him that his uncle was discharged on Thursday. My friend figured he must have made a speedy recovery and found a ride back home. Good for him. Then he got a call from his uncle’s daughter, who lives far away in Canada.

She had been trying to get an update on her father’s condition on Friday, the day before, but hospital staff refused her request, citing privacy restrictions. What?? The daughter was the uncle’s only remaining immediate family member. The daughter persisted and demanded to speak with a supervisor. The supervisor came on the line and finally relented, telling her that her father had passed away the previous day.

My friend was a bit perturbed at getting this news, particularly after having been told at the hospital that his uncle was merely discharged. To add to his consternation, besides having power of attorney, my acquaintance was the emergency contact.

Makes you wonder about the bureaucracy in this day and age, doesn’t it?

My wife and I had been waiting for a phone call of our own this week. They measured for our carpet, my son Greg and I tore out all the old carpet and we moved furniture in preparation for the arrival of the installers, then the installer left a message saying they would be in touch as soon as they received the carpet.

That was all last week. I had already informed my boss that I might need a day off this week when my new carpet was to be laid. On Tuesday, we arrived home from work to find a message on our answering machine.

It was from Home Depot where we purchased the carpet a week and a
half ago. Giving us an update, they told us the carpet was to be manufactured on Friday and would be shipped out next week. The earliest we could expect it to be installed would be between Christmas and New Year’s?

What??!! You mean when we placed our order, not only did they not have the carpet in stock, it wasn’t scheduled to be produced for another two weeks. Do you think this was news we could have had when we were originally in the store??!! That may have affected our purchasing decision, especially when we told the salesman that we wanted it in for Christmas.

Puts one in a very un-Christmaslike mood. Except in one regard. Our family room with bare floors, a few mean sticks of furniture and a Christmas tree will very much look like the Cratchit family home from a Christmas Carol.