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Antiwork

If a doctor’s office can charge me a “no-show” fee, why can’t I charge them a “sat in the waiting room for an hour” fee?

We all have jobs. Some hate their job, some don't. But we've all felt the frustrations of having to take time off of work for a doctor (or dentist) visit. Your appointment is at 11 AM (because that's all they had) and you hope that you can get in an out with only using an hour “off the clock” time, plus your normal lunch break. The day before you get a text from the doctors office reminding you of your 11 AM appointment, with a passive aggressive reminder that there's a “missed appointment” fee of $50 (or $100) if you no-show. “Please show up early to fill out paperwork”. Sure. I will. So, you get to the Doctors office 10 minutes early and check in. No. There's been no changes in my insurance. So…there isn't paperwork? OK. I guess I'll wait. And wait. And wait. And wait some more. “Oh,…


We all have jobs. Some hate their job, some don't. But we've all felt the frustrations of having to take time off of work for a doctor (or dentist) visit. Your appointment is at 11 AM (because that's all they had) and you hope that you can get in an out with only using an hour “off the clock” time, plus your normal lunch break.

The day before you get a text from the doctors office reminding you of your 11 AM appointment, with a passive aggressive reminder that there's a “missed appointment” fee of $50 (or $100) if you no-show. “Please show up early to fill out paperwork”. Sure. I will.

So, you get to the Doctors office 10 minutes early and check in. No. There's been no changes in my insurance.
So…there isn't paperwork? OK. I guess I'll wait. And wait. And wait. And wait some more.

“Oh, our first patent ran over 30 minutes.” they eventually tell you. Why the FUCK didn't you tell me that when I came in?

They finally call your name and take you back into a room. They take your temperature, blood pressure, and ask about your medical history. Then they leave.

Once again, you wait. And wait.

Now, you've already gone past your hour off. And your lunch hour. You've texted your boss that you still haven't seen the doctor.

Finally… the doc walks in. You mention your issue. They write a prescription and escort you out. You've been there almost 3 hours….and only 7 minutes with the doctor.

It's cost you 2+hours of pay….plus whatever ridiculous co-pay/deductible (Oh, wait….that's only in the US? But socialized medicine is bad…right?).

It would have been cheaper just to no-show.

Why do we put up with that? That's the exact same amount of disrespect of OUR time as a boss calling you after hours, or expecting you to work unpaid overtime.

I'm tired of it.

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