Beep..beep….beep..beep….beep..beep
Receptionist: “Good Morning ! You have reached Dr. Mehta’s Clinic. How can we help you?”
With a shaking voice, the caller responded:
Caller: “Hi, Good..good Morning. We had an appointment with Dr. Mehta today and..”
Receptionist: “What is the patient’s name madam?”
Caller: “Mrs. Sharda Singh, for 11:00 AM.”
Receptionist: “Yes madam, please tell me.”
Caller: “Can you please cancel the appointment and inform the doctor?”
The caller, daughter of Mrs. Singh, was expecting a question asking for a reason for the cancellation. What she got instead was something she had never thought of or prepared for before making the call.
Receptionist: “Why do you take an appointment if you have to cancel it? Do you realize how much inconvenience it will be to the doctor? Maybe another patient who really needed to see the doctor could have got an appointment. The doctor is a very busy man and this is very likely time wasted for him.”
The daughter patiently heard everything, and, responded with a voice shaking a little more but strong and polite as the woman herself.
Miss Singh: “Yes, I understand and I am really sorry for that.”
With frustration in the voice, the receptionist replied:
Receptionist: “Fine, can you give me a reason for the doctor?”
Miss Singh: “Yes, please tell him that the patient passed away last night. I am sure he will understand.”
The receptionist felt a sense of shame and had shivers soon he heard that. At a loss of words now, he could only scramble a “I am so sorry.”
Miss Singh: “No, that’s fine. Please tell him though. Thanks for understanding and sorry for the trouble.”
She could not speak any more. Wiping the tears off her eyes, tears she hardly managed to hold back for this call, she disconnected.
Note: I read and interact with a lot of people. It is very much possible that I would have read this story somewhere or heard it from someone or that it was influenced by another such story.
What is your opinion? Who was right, who was wrong? Was someone right or wrong? Do let me know in the comments what you think. Criticism is most welcome.