Les Petits Contes

About life's little observations, which matter. About hilarious situations, which illuminate. About stories which offer immense possibilities, open endings, different interpretations and perspectives.

Name:
Location: Asia, Singapore

Melancholic but with a quirky sense of humour

Friday, March 18, 2005

Conveyor Belt Sushi, Anyone?


Is it just ‘’me’’ again? I must always have scary doctor stories to tell, or what?

And the more ‘’sensitive’’ I am with regard to service and professionalism, it seems, the more I encounter horror stories.

Last week I rang to make an appointment to see an eye surgeon to discuss the possibility of lasik surgery. It was my first appointment with this highly recommended, highly-decorated/ awarded, super efficient, ‘’can do both eyes at same time with excellent results’’ chap.

The receptionist took down my requested appointment date and time. I had requested for the first appointment of the day – first thing in the morning. She said something totally incomprehensible and illogical, to me at least. (Maybe I had barely passed Maths and Science in school so am not very good comprehending logic anyway.)

Tell me if you understand her: ‘’Just to let you know, this is only an appointment time that we allocate for you. But it is actually first come first served basis. So, if your appointment is 9.30 am and if someone comes in before you, he will be treated first and you will have to wait.’’ I asked, ‘’Then what is the point of making an appointment then? We are not talking about an A & E unit at the hospital here… I called to make an appointment because I needed to know how much time I will be away from the office…‘’. After some weak attempt at replying, and I still didn’t understand or agree (something about he has a lot of patients etc), she just said, ‘’aiya – I just put there 9.30 am for you la.’’

We are talking about a well-respected ‘’profession’’ here. Heck – doctors take the hippocratic oath, don’t they? If hair salons can respect appointment times and decline walk-ins (I have been politely turned away because I had walked in wanting a hair cut and the hairdresser could not entertain me because he was expecting a client in 10 minutes time – an appointment made prior to my walk-in), why can’t eye surgeons?

And so this morning, I was 15 minutes early for my ‘’appointment’’. I had wanted to see if it was truly the ‘’first appointment’’ that they had given me. Bingo. No. Others had already beat me to it (walk-ins??) and I was made to wait.

The consultation and series of tests went well enough. But I felt like I was talking to a marketing guy rather than a doctor. And that the whole clinic was an impersonal, ‘’efficient’’ fast food chain.

The surgeon perfunctorily asked about the work I do, the sports I play – to know my ‘’lifestyle’’. He did a few more quick tests. Then he tried to sell me the most high end version/ options of the lasik technology. Sure; I am impressed by the benefits, convenience, advantages and the track record and success rates. But I just felt that, if I was a surgeon, I would have given several options and walked through each one with the patient, rather than zooming in on the most expensive and criticising the cheaper options. But no, I had to probe, and ask, and ask.

I was convinced and satisfied about the technology. I did not doubt his competence and experience. I just wish I was in a healthcare place, and not conveyor belt sushi chain.

But wait. Here is the bombshell. I walked out of his office to go to his receptionist to make my appointment for the surgery. The woman gave me the date and time, and wrote on an appointment card. She attached my test reports on that card. The card belongs to a Miss Karen Wong. I pointed that out to her and without an apology, took it back and tried to locate mine, as well as Miss Wong’s test report. Then along came a Mr Bok – one of the staff who took my tests earlier and they both pored over the test reports, the appointment cards and tried to sort out their mutual confusion. Mr Bok asked the woman, ‘’so is Janet going for the custom-lasik?’’ And she went, ‘’I think so, let me check..’’ and Mr Bok, said, ‘’yes, it should be – her power is so high, it must be…’’

I will be forking out about $6,000 for my lasik surgery and treatment, in two week’s time. Quite a princely sum of my hard earned money. And I witnessed such conversations.

By now my jaws, after having dropped to the ground, clenched. I gave them my famous chilling ‘’Janet Loh-look’’ and stood silent, while taking back the cards and the reports to check and re-check that they had attached them correctly. ‘’Don’t worry, before the surgery we will test you again and that will make sure that this report is truly accurate,’’ Mr Bok attempted to ‘’reassure’’ me.

Not only will I have to fork out $6,000, I will have my one and only pair of eyes in the hands of the surgeon and the eye test staff. I know the clinic has handled thousands of cases, is the only one in Singapore with this and that equipment, has more than four such machines, has all the lasik/ wave-front technology from low-end to high-end expensive ones, is the only US-certified in something or other, is the first to operate on both eyes within minutes, is the only one who operated on a seven-year old boy, etc. But I have only one pair of eyes, not four, not thousands.

I know they have high success rates, many referrals, and many, many eager patients – judging from the crowded clinic and the conveyor belt feel I get in the way they handled the tests. But I am not just ‘’one of the patients’’ who jump into the lasik bandwagon unquestioningly.

And yet I went ahead to make the appointment. I know that if I had gone to another surgeon, it would be the same. And frankly, I am quite tired of cleaning my lens, getting eye infections, wearing thick glasses and worst of all, jumping out of bed suddenly in the middle of the night or morning to grope for my glasses, just to scribble my story ideas before I forget….I guess I am not very logical after all.

Monday, March 14, 2005

How a Young Man Managed to Defrost Me

I walked into the shop at United Square impatiently and tried to locate a CD that I had been hunting high and low.

A young man approached and offered help. I gave him the name of the vocal group, but he had not heard of it. ‘’What’s new – a typical blur sales assistant in Singapore, ‘’ I thought grumpily. It was late in the afternoon, I had spent hours painting my ceramic, I was hungry and tired and all I wanted was to locate the CD so that I could listen to its beautiful lyrics in detail at home.

But he was patient and persevering. He asked for details, searched and searched, even in the most unlikely sections. I gave up and said, ‘’nevermind – it’s an old CD and I don’t expect many people to carry it’’.

‘’Would you like me to place an order for you,’’ he asked helpfully. Somehow, I was still in a foul mood and was still very impatient as he tried to clarify my written request on his little note book.

But, at the end of the day, it was his patience and smiles that thawed me. How did he manage to maintain his smile and friendliness despite my irritability, clenched jaws and rather terse replies?

After the ‘’thawing’’ I was ready for conversation. I mentioned that I used to shop at his store when it was at Park Mall. Then, I was serviced by two other chaps, somewhat older than him. His eyes lit up and seemed so grateful for my past patronage. He said he used to be at Park Mall too - they were all there for more than 10 years….

By now the young man – Lionel as he introduced himself – has won my confidence and ‘’approval’’. He may be young, soft spoken and unaware of the group I had requested for, but I was very impressed by his positive attitude, enthusiasm and appreciation of my past patronage. I even asked about some other lounge music that I liked and he was quick to show me his selection and make recommendations.

I recalled how almost every Sunday, after church service, gym work out and lunch, Ji Lean and I would go to CD Plus at Park Mall – where Alan would recommend new age and foreign albums for me and Mandarin ones for Ji Lean.

It was a tiny shop with limited collection but we appreciated Alan’s personal attention and service. He could even remember or remind us of the CD’s that we already owned, and shared our enthusiasm for certain albums.

Now, many years later, we have changed our routine and no longer visit Park Mall or the gym at Fort Canning. And CD Plus has moved to this beautiful and posh-looking shop at United Square.

But I am so glad that some things have not changed. Like the cheerful and friendly service, the reminisce and the conversations that I can still share with the shop assistants.