Good Deeds

Ah. Peace at last.

It's actually been a very productive day, all told. Yesterday was a bit insane because we'd run out of fax machine ribbon (yeah; our outdated POS fax machine runs off an ink ribbon, like old typewriters) and I hadn't noticed 'cos bloody Maureen had left a box full of used rolls under the desk. I got urgent next-day delivery on new ones, but unfortunately, this little spigot thing that lets the ribbon turn normally got thrown away by mistake last night. Thankfully, I have at least a small amount of ingenuity -- a plain ol' Bic secured with a dab of Blu-Tac serves as an adequate substitute. And with the fax ribbons came the document trays I ordered. We have efficient organisation! I just have to label 'em and beat the idea of segregated mail into Maurice. Actually, I have to beat the idea of looking at his mail into Maurice. But then again, mostly it's just referrals or stuff to be filed anyway, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to tell the difference.

I'm currently riding on a warm, slightly embarrassed "I did a good thing and got effusive praise for it" feeling. When I came back from lunch, checked my voicemail to find a message from a patient's mother. The words "private referral" came up and I expected to have to tell her that she had the wrong secretary and have another clue-by-four beating like I had yesterday (guy rang up and would not accept that, because I am paid by the NHS, I do not and cannot do any of Maurice's private work). Instead, I was told that this lady's mother needed to be referred to someone, be they private or NHS, as soon as possible because said mother's condition was deteriorating. Of course, with Maurice being away next week and then Easter, it looked like the first appointment she could get was the 19th. So I explained to the lady that I could probably squeeze her into an appointment on the 5th if she was okay with having a registrar look at her, careful to point out that the registrars do the chemo referrals anyway and if there was something seriously wrong, the registrar in question could call one of the other consultants in. I just thought it'd be better to have her seen as soon as possible, so decisions that need to be made fairly rapidly could be made. Anyway, more bashing at the stupid hospital system ensued and I got in the appointment. All in a day's work, right?

Apparently not. The caller said, "Thank you so much. This has been the most efficient and helpful anyone's been about my mother's health in a long time." And when I told her that I could arrange patient transport if her mother wasn't particularly mobile, she said, "Oh, no, you've done enough; I'll call one of my friends."

Jeez. I don't get it. I mean, I'm happy she's happy; one of the reasons I stick with medical secretarial instead of going to a higher-paid thing is because I do get the feeling I'm helping people in my own small way. (Another's the wardrobe. Couldn't hack suits. Ick.) All the same, it's my job to do things like that -- to be helpful and make sure that patients get seen in a timely fashion and that they have all the information they need. Why do people act like it's some kind of big miracle when someone actually does their job?

Maybe it's just what a lot of people (cholten99 most recently) keep telling me -- people don't do their jobs well. They just work hard enough not to get sacked. I don't understand that either. This is a pretty old building, and there's a motto graven into one of the walls -- "Whatsoever you turn your hand to, do it with your might". I think in modern English, that means, "If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well". I guess it's rare when people live up to that.

Hey, never mind. I made that woman's day -- and both she and her poor mother can have some piece of mind, which is a precious commodity for anyone dealing with the patient end of medical oncology. That's a good feeling, and probably bloody good karma as well. And now that my tasks for the day are complete, I can think about other things, like what to do about dinner tonight, or whether or not I want to participate in Andy P's run-through of Francine's doings in Charouse (it's damn hard having a Porte sorceress who's capable of "Walk" in the party; all this stuff happens behind the scenes and far away from the main action), or what bit of T-shirt art I'm going to design next.

So I'll leave you with a happy me and a spiffy new icon -- this shows all the people I play 7th Sea with. In order of appearance:

Andy P (the GM; sometimes plays Fiora if he can find someone else to GM)

Dave (Francine)

me (currently Alison)

Kat (Viola, also called Violante or Roberto -- long story; sometimes plays Richard)

Mark (Axel)

Simson (Idunn)

Toos (Alejandro; sometimes plays Pietro)