Thank you Doctor, for taking my money

When did doctor's offices become such assholes? I mean, aren't we paying them for a service? Why is it that I feel that I am at the mercy of someone who gets paid atleast double my salary and takes most of my salary...?

I called the dentist's office today telling them I need to speak to Mr. Dentist about the root canal he started last week. If you don't know what a root canal is- wikipedia it. It hurts. Maybe not during the process because I'm numbed up quite nicely, but afterwards it's painful. This is my second one as of recent, and my forth in my life. So I pretty much spent the holiday weekend curled up in the corner wincing in pain, waiting for the 1000mg of ibprofin to kick in. God forbid I fell asleep and surpassed more than 4 hours of no pain meds, I would wake up in unbearable pain in the middle of the morning and the medicine would take yet another hour to kick in. I'm running low on meds, and that advil crap ain't workin.

So I call up the dentist's office to ask that he see me or prescribe me something strong or SOMETHING because my stash is running low and it isn't working. I have codine in line if the pain gets bad (leftovers from wisdom tooth extractions... yes I've been through a lot of pain this year) but I don't particularly enjoy taking pain meds like that. The receptionist says he will call me back. Four hours later- no call back. No nothing. I call again and she says she will speak to Mr. Dentist and he might phone in a prescription to my pharmacy. That was an hour ago, and as I write this- their office closes in about 4 mintues.

So someone tell me when the hell people in the service industry with expertise got to be so damn snooty??? I mean, am I not PAYING for this service? Why am I the one taking the day off of work so Mr. Dentist can not work weekends, Fridays, and after 4pm? I mean... wtf?

This dentist's office is not the only office that I've delt with like this. I once had an appointment with a doctor who I was trying to obtain as a primary care physician. She gives me an appointment at 5pm. I rush there after work, seeing that I am stuck in traffic at 4:55pm- I give her a courtesy call to let her know that I am almost there. She says, in her broken Indian accent, "NO no no you can't come now the secretary is gone!" WHAT? Lady- why did you give me the appointment then? Then she goes, "What's your problem?" I explained it was like carpel tunnelish pain that disturbed my work and life (duh- desk job) and she said "oh" like it just wasn't important enough for her to handle this right now. WTF? Are you kidding me?

Doctors in the US have so much money that they do not work for- it's ridiculous. I'm not spot on on exactly how it all works (and feel free to educate me) but something as simple as an X-ray costs a lot- and though the money may not be directly coming out of our pockets, the insurance influx is boat loads. For weekend golfing trips, being home every Friday, and getting home before the rush hour even starts... can't you just frikkin call me back and give me a damn prescription??