« June 2006 | Main | August 2006 »

July 20, 2006

Medical Plan

We just got a phone call at home. One of those calls where you can tell there's an autodialer at the other end and you have to wait impatiently to get to speak to the telemarketer who's calling you. Lately I've been answering these calls and asking to be taken off their list but this time the woman at the other end identified herself as representing a doctor's office, and asked to speak to my wife. After verifying, hand over the mouthpiece, that the doctor's name was not familiar in our home I asked the caller what the call concerned (knowing that they'd damn well better not tell me anything if it concerned someone else, even my wife). And what did it concern? "Well, he's doing a health awareness program and he's offering you and your family and two guests the opportunity to get a free physical, and ..."

Precisely what kind of doctor feels the need to do this? How can it be worth paying a marketing firm to attract those unfortunate patients who wouldn't see the doctor unless it was free? It's too "Hi, Dr.Nick!" for me, I can tell you that.

July 19, 2006

Overheard at the U.S. Post Office

The lady in line behind me was complaining about a co-worker. "He's such a woman," she said. That's odd, thought I, tuning out to mull this over. But I was drawn back into my eavesdropping a little later when she remarked "it's a fucking barbecue, not a fucking cotillion where you have to dress up like a fucking princess!" I didn't know people still used the word "cotillion," especially New Yorkers, and especially New Yorkers of this sort, but the world is full of surprises.