I went to see my family doctor today to get the results of my annual blood work (all ok) and overheard one of the office staff talking with a new patient while I was waiting. The clerk sounded very annoyed with the patient who had not filled out the new patient information form correctly. As she read out his answers in an unnecessarily loud voice, it was apparent that he had completed the form usually perfectly reasonable assumptions about the questions. Those assumptions were not, however, aligned with the assumptions of the people who had created the form, which used meanings that would only be evident to those in the medical field. Why do we surround ourselves with jargon and then expect others who do not work in our field to understand it? And why do the office workers in medical practices invariably act as if they are the ones who are providing the service to the patients and act put-upon when they are required to do anything outside of their standard (very limited) operating procedures. Put a damn kiosk in the office and I'll sign in, pay my co-pay and make appointments via that. It would certainly be a far more pleasant experience.

When I went to pick up Caitlin from her Friday evening outing it was 9 degrees out. Low enough to take your breath away.