Second Post

I've been lax in doing this blogging stuff. I had started several posts, but never finished them or had the actual time to work on them. Like I said in my first post, writing anything is like writing a term paper for me. Or a thesis. I continue to work on it and never seem quite satisfied.

Anyway, this is going to be a rant. Sal would normally hear this. In fact she did, but I've tried to not swear as much as I would when I'm pissed off for this blog. This isn't a rant like Dennis Miller or Bill Maher would do (not about politics at the moment). Sort of like Seinfield or Larry David. More like Dennis Leary. I'll keep my thoughts about the state of the union, the current political and world policies to myself for now. No this is a rant about how people have pissed me off today. Probably will be a popular blog topic for me.

First, this goes out to servers in restaurants (as well as hosts/hostesses). It seems that servers expect to be tipped even though their service was horrible. This is all over the country. Not just here in Whazzatsmell and the Northeastern region of the State of Whazzatsmell. How hard is it to do the following: pay attention to patrons within a few moments of their being seated, take the order correctly (why carry a pen and paper if not to use them), and check patrons frequently during the meal and refill drinks. This also happened back in the East. I'm not invisible, but certainly think I must be from time to time in restaurant, stores and while driving. Is there now some sort of unwritten rule among servers (formerly known as waiter/waitress) that once patrons have their food you only talk to them again when it's time to get the check and kiss up to get a good tip?

Today, we went to the local chain restaurant that is advertised ad nauseum on ABC College Football. The hostess asked if we would like to sit in the bar area or the restaurant area. I thought this an incredibly stupid question as we had our 5 month old daughter in her baby carrier with us. I could just picture placing Baby Z in her carrier on the bar while Sal and I sat on barstools. But that's just the beginning. Our server did fine until after our food arrived. Then she was nowhere to be found. Disappeared. Fell off the face of the Earth. Beamed up to the Enterprise. I had no idea where in hell she went. Sal had a dish that was spicy and "hot". She ran out of her beverage. In fact one of the spices was caught between her gum and teeth and was causing her discomfort. So seeing that we were abandoned by the server, I walked up to the bar and asked for some water. I've never had to do this before. I've grabbed napkins off other tables from time to time. The bartender soon informed the manager that I had to come and ask for water. The manager soon came to our table and apologized. And the server finally came around and apologized. But she had the balls to tell us that she was absent because she was getting bitched out for pissing off some other unfortunate people who were also "blessed" with having her as their server. And then she wouldn't shut up. She was just shy of kissing our ass and who knows what else to get a tip. What a fucking idiot! Hopefully, she won't be working there much longer. But I think I'll just get takeout from now on, as shitty service seems to be fairly common there. So lesson for any restaurant servers reading this: pay attention to your patron and you might get a good tip. I'm not tipping anymore if the service doesn't deserve it. Maybe servers should get minimum wage just like everyone working at the fast food chains, convenience stores, etc.

Second, this is for the wonderful drivers that are everywhere to be found and the idiotic civil engineers who planned the roadways in the glorious State of Whazzitsmell. People drive like it's the Indy 500. And they don't look around them while driving. I was trying to pull out from a stop sign onto a heavily traveled road. There is a rise just prior to the intersection I was at, which makes seeing approaching cars difficult. Well, I didn't see anything coming and began to pull out into the roadway. Some guy who thought he was Mario Andretti nearly ran into me. He had to be driving twice the posted speed limit. There is a lack of stop signs and traffic lights here. And I've seen enough people not stop at stop signs to begin to wonder if the stop signs with the white edges are now optional. I've driven in Philadelphia, Washington DC, most of Florida, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo but I've never been so worried about the other drivers on the road until I lived here. No wonder the car insurance rates are so high here. I'm not going to rant about cell phones and driving right now. Maybe some other time.

Third, this one is to those who don't wash their hands in public restrooms. I was in the local chain department store (symbolized by a red and white bullseye). A gentleman came into the restroom after I did. He did his business and them left. Didn't wash his hands. That's fucking disgusting! And it's worse being a medical professional and knowing what bacteria, viruses, and fungi may be on this guys genitals. And who knows where his genitals have been since his last shower. I've seem enough people to know that many don't bathe before they see a doctor. And this guy looked like he may not have bathed in days. At least he didn't defecate. So people, wash your hands in the restroom. At least do what you were taught by your parents, or the health teacher. You don't know who's watching you be a disgusting human being.

And lastly, this is for the waste of resources I see day after day. I thought the State of Whazzitsmell was progressive with recycling, being environmentally aware, etc. But the only recycling in the area is for newspaper. Tons of paper, plastic, and cardboard go into landfills. There is so much trash on the sidewalks and around roadways, that I was shocked. But the thing today was the housing area with the streetlights on. The big problem was that there were no houses there yet, only vacant lots. Yes, there is plenty of light in an area where no one lives yet. What a fucking waste!

Enough ranting for now. Enjoy.
- posted by Hawk @ 6:22 PM

 
The First Post

I've been encouraged to start a blog by my wife, who has been blogging for years. I've included a rant or two to her posts as comments. These usually were about some current event. At present, I'm not entirely sure what to write about. Likely, I'll write about day to day stuff. Very likely, stuff that pisses me off. I'm sure the weird, disgusting, idiotic, and perverted stuff I see at work will be included from time to time.

I don't consider myself a writer. In fact, I would avoid classes in college where papers were required. The multiple choice (or multiple guess) test was my favorite. Short answer tests were ok. But I hated writing papers. I'd rather to do triple intergrations in a calculus class before doing a term paper. I was a chemistry major, so most hard science classes didn't require term papers. Lab reports were very dry and didn't require much creativity. And then I went to med school. No papers to write during that time. The only thing I remember writing was a personal statement for my residency application. And now I'm a physician. All I write are prescriptions and notes (when not dictating notes) and sometimes fill out a form.

Well, I've been inspired to write about physician's handwriting. I could never read my doctor's handwriting while growing up. Contrary to popular belief, you don't take a class in med school to develop illegible handwriting. Nor are potential doctors given points for admission to med schools by having poor handwriting. In fact I think most med schools and residency programs now have online applications. Some just have poor penmanship. Others just write fast and sloppy, because we have to see as many patients as we can in order to just break even for the day. When I was an intern, a fellow intern wrote a medication order in a chart that was illegible. Luckily the hospital pharmacist called the intern to ask about the medication. The pharmacist thought a different medication was ordered because of the illegible handwriting. And if the medication that the pharmacist thought was ordered had been given, the patient would have died. Since then, I tend to print my orders and prescriptions. And I don't get called about not being able to read what I wrote.

It's weird, but nothing has really pissed me off today. So, I'll end this first blog entry. Maybe it will help those who will be suffering from insomnia later tonight.
- posted by Hawk @ 7:01 PM