The other day, I went to my acupuncturist’s office for an appointment. I left work at 12:15 pm for a 1:00 pm appointment in Long Beach. It was snowing, the roads were icy and I couldn’t find a parking spot. I drove around the block once and ended up parking on the corner and walked to her office as the snow turned into sleet.
I had just completed a half marathon on Sunday and have been in so much pain so I thought that an appointment with the acupuncturist would be the right treatment for me.
I entered her office. Her office is in a house and she shares it with a Chiropractor. No one was at the reception desk. I waited. No one came out to greet me. Ten minutes went by and I sent a text message to my friend, Marti, who recommended her to me.
What do you do when you walk in and no one is in the office?
Call out hello, Marti wrote
I feel awkward, I wrote
Knock on her door and see if she is there or just yell out HELLO!
I yelled HELLO. No one came out. I heard people talking. I walked toward the back and yelled HELLO again. Another woman came out of an office. She said that Ellen, the acupuncturist, was in with another patient. I dropped my head and went back to the waiting room.
As I was sitting there I started to think about how the same situation happened to me in reverse. One time I had someone in for an interview. Everyone’s doors were closed and the phone rang. I picked it up.
“Hilary,” the interviewee said, “I’m outside your door.”
Another time, we had someone in for an interview. I wasn’t around that day. I was on vacation with my family so I had my staff watch my turtle, Shanikwa. The turtle sat in the waiting room. The woman walked into the office and sat herself beside the turtle. Kristie was on the phone and Lori was in her office. Lori came out and greeted the interviewee and asked her to patiently wait while Kristie finished her call.
Lori went back into her office and soon thereafter, heard the woman talking with the turtle.
“Hey little guy,” she said, “how are you today? You don’t look very happy? Are you happy?”
Obviously the turtle didn’t answer her but Lori heard the whole conversation. To say the least, the woman didn’t get the job.
All of these stories flowed into my head as I sat there waiting for the acupuncturist to come out.
“Hilary, you’re early,” she said as she was walking down the corridor. “Your appointment is for 4:00 pm.”
“No, I have it for 1 pm,” I said. She said it was no problem with the mix up and was able to see me anyway. As I walked into her office I chuckled at the awkwardness of the situation.
What would you do?
