#543: On Being Turned Away from the Doctor’s Office for My Blood Pressure Checkup and How That Ultimately Raised My Blood Pressure

I was 15 minutes late.
Actually, the truth of the matter
is that I was not 15 minutes early.
So they turned me away.
I knew the expectation.
They only sent me three
or four reminders,
but when your appointment
is for 7:30 a.m.,
and you’re supposed
to show up at 7:15,
when you’re retired,
and you want to shower,
and you’ve got to water
and feed the dogs
and eat something
and brush your teeth
and it’s been two years
since you’ve had to
be anywhere this early,
you just can’t make it.
I just couldn’t make it.
Oh, I said to myself,
the doctor will see me.
After all, I’ve checked in
already online; I’m ready
to go, ready to rock,
ready to roll. The answer
was no. “You’re 15 minutes
late,” the receptionist said,
“so we will have to reschedule.”
And I know I let out
a little “fuck.” It was
hard to be magnanimous.
“Fuck,” I said. And to
punish me, she rescheduled
my appointment
a week from today at 7,
a half hour earlier
than today’s appointment
for which I was NOT
15 minutes early
and was thus turned
away. Outside the office,
in the parking lot,
I could feel the tension
in my body and I was
cursing some more
and I’m certain,
after years of having
it pretty much
under control, there
was a spike in that
blood pressure then.