I do not understand
the failure of health professionals to keep an appointment. What's with that?
I've been going to doctors and dentists for decades and not once has my
appointment time been honored. They always keep me waiting. Every. Single.
Time. It's an established fact, and one that we all seem to accept. Including
me, alas.
But if they are to
keep me waiting, I want decent accommodations and interesting reading material.
It was when I pregnant with my second child that I became verbal about my
frustrations. I'm sure my doctor was quite surprised when he greeted me to get
this response:
“How am
I?” I roared. “I'll tell you 'How am I?' I've been waiting for a half
an hour and your magazine selection is crap. Not everyone wants to read Business
Weekly or Yachtsman. We're women. We're pregnant,
uncomfortable, angry women, and we want something decent to read!
He stared at me,
mouth agape, got up, crossed the room, rummaged in a drawer, handed me paper
and pencil and said, “Make a list of what you want.
I'm not sure which
one of us was more surprised, but I made that list, and the next time I went into the
office there was no sign of Business Weekly or Yachtsman.
There was, however, Victoria, Southern Living, Traditional
Home, Martha Stewart Living, and Country Living.
Results! I was greeted like a queen that day. The nurses loved me, fellow
patients knew my name. I became legendary. And now I do this every time. There
is an art, I find, to complaining, and I credit my second son for making me so
bossy.
Where is this all
leading, you ask? The dentist's office. An office with a lovely wall magazine
rack and the BEST collection of magazines I have ever seen. Twenty five
varieties at last count including Birds and Blooms and (where he
found this one I do not know) Cookbook Digest Magazine. Have you
ever heard of that one? Me neither. It is not visually appealing, and is rather
poorly edited, but it does feature a wide variety of recipes from an equally wide variety of cookbooks (many of
which I do not have), making it a rather interesting publication.
When the hygienist
greeted me (after the obligatory wait) and asked how I was, I said, “Here's the deal. I have been waiting for a half an hour. When I leave,
I'm either taking this magazine with me, or you can photocopy the dog-eared
pages.” After a good checkup and sparkling clean teeth, I was handed
a packet of photocopies on my way out. This recipe, a unique one for chocolate
chip cookies among them.
Here is a copy of
the recipe straight from the magazine. I’ve
noted the inaccuracies in red. These are
really good. Crispy on the outside,
chewy on the inside, with no taste of either the malt or espresso powders, just
a sophisticated, complex deliciousness that will make people wonder why their chocolate chip
cookies aren’t nearly as good as yours.
Let’s keep them guessing, shall we?
This post is
linked to:
