ÐÔÊӽ紫ý

Today I am on a rant about unreturned phone calls. I have the worst time ever having my telephone calls returned. It happens so frequently I am wondering if I am doing something wrong.

Determined never to annoy people, I call somebody and wait at least two days for a returned phone call. If I don’t get a response, I call and leave a second message. If the second phone call is not returned, I just don’t bother them again. The mistake I am sure I am not making is to call too often.

There is a woman with a delightful ÐÔÊӽ紫ý Rome business. I met her once at lunch at Olive Garden with one other person. I subsequently emailed her, “…it was very nice meeting you.â€� She didn’t answer my email. I fully expect she received my email. I have a very strong feeling she doesn’t like me. I don’t like being ignored. Maybe I get on her nerves. Who knows.

Anyway, I called her last week and left her a message. She didn’t return my phone call. What a surprise. Three or four days later, I called again and said, “This is Pam Walker. I figured out the answer to what I asked you about, so don’t worry about returning my phone call.� I am not optimistic she would have returned my call, even if I had not said don’t worry about it.

There is a minister here in Rome for whom I have left two voice mail messages. He has not returned my phone calls, although a few months ago he did return a voice mail message I left him. He is a very busy man. He gets a pass. But a doctorÐÔÊӽ紫ý office whose staff cannot seem to return a phone call does not get a pass!

I have recently been having a lot of back pain, which radiated all the way down my leg. It was excruciating and burned like fire. The provider to whom I went ordered a series of lumbar spine X-rays and an MRI. I had those done the next day. I finally got a voice mail from the providerÐÔÊӽ紫ý staff, instructing me to call and schedule an “L4-5 epidural steroid injection.â€� I have left two voice mail messages, trying to get that injection scheduled. I have not heard from them.

I used to schedule orthopedic surgery, thoracic surgery and specialty eye procedures. I returned all phone messages the same day in the afternoon. There is no excuse for me having to call twice to schedule that injection and for those phone calls not yet being returned. By the way, Gabapentin is my new best friend. That medication has taken care of the pain. I think I’ll pass on the injection and go right to the chiropractor.

I cannot be totally objective about how I come across on the telephone. However, with a reasonable amount of certainty I am sure I am not rude to people. I have decided there is just no figuring this out. The exception to this is my friends. My friends always return my phone calls. But you know, my friends are all a class act. Maybe these other people could learn a thing or two from my friends.