Flu Shot
Every year I get a flu shot. I'm really prone to getting sick, so I make sure I get that shot really early each year. For the last two years I've gotten them on the first day they were offered.This year we moved to a new office building. An occupational health company resides in the next building and offers flu shots to everyone in the building if they reserve them in advance.
When the notice went out, I reserved a shot for myself. The clinic was supposed to start at 11am on the 8th floor of our building. I went up around 11:15.
The first thing I noticed is that the elevator would not accept the command to go to the 8th floor. Usually you press the button you want and the button lights up. The button would not light and the elevator would not budge. So, I went to the 7th floor and walked up to the 8th. Totally deserted.
Well, maybe they are running late. I went back to work and tried again around noon. Same deal. No one there.
So, I called the building management company who sent out the first notice, ...no answer. I leave a message.
There are two buildings in our complex, so I thought that maybe they meant for me to go to the 8th floor in the other building. So, I hiked over there, went up the 8th floor right into the middle of an office. They had no idea what I was talking about, and neither did the old-codger security guard on the first floor.
Back to my building. So, I thought I'd stop at the offices of the building management company, ...locked. No one inside.
Back to my office where I called the building management company again. I worked the phone menu to dial up the manager's cell phone, no answer. I tried the secretary's desk, no answer. Left messages all around and went back to work.
Around 3pm I get a call from the secretary. The clinic is over. She asks if I still want my shot.
"Yes, I do."
"Ok, hold on." Lot's of mumbling in the background. "Ok, can I get your phone number and they will call you back to reschedule you. They are out of shots now."
"um ok"
"Hold on." In the background I can hear her explain this to the nurse. She says, "He was scheduled to get a shot, but he went to the wrong floor so can you call him ..?"
When she gets back on the phone, I say "I went to the 8th floor, but no one was there."
"We had it on the 9th floor."
This is one of my pet peeves, when people who are responsible for something screw up in some minor or major way, but then try to blame the person with the least amount of blame because they can get away with it. I am on the phone and cannot speak directly to the people she is talking to, so as far as they know, I'm some idiot who doesn't know the difference between 8 and 9.
But, it's her fault for either giving me the wrong floor or forgetting to update me with the change. She just didn't want to have to admit that she forgot to update me.
So, a week or two later they call. The very next day Britain stops shipment on US bound flu shots and there's a huge shortage. Now, I'm ineligible.
However, the wife discovered that if our child is under 6 months old, we can get a shot. You see, children are one of the high risk groups, but children under 6 months of age cannot get a flu shot at all. They are two young. So, everyone in close contact with a child under 6 months is eligible for a shot. Great.
I checked out the line at Mayfair mall on Monday and line went from the center of the mall all the way to southern end of the mall. F--- that.
Online I found a smaller, lesser known venue giving out shots, ...the Bavarian Inn. So, at 10am we got in line with about 100 codgers and got our shots. The line snaked outside the building a bit, and as we finally worked our way inside, a tall old man said something to my wife. I couldn't really hear what he said, and I assumed it was about not blocking the entrance because everyone was stupidly using the same door entering and exiting, despite the fact that there were three other doors they could have used for exiting.
Later, my wife told me that he said, "You can go right out that door," gesturing to the unused doors people should have been using for exiting. Then, a women with him said, "No, she has a baby so it is ok for her to get a shot." He apparently said ok, and moved on.
My wife wanted to know if he was telling her to leave or if he was assuming she was trying to exit out of the wrong door. So that I wouldn't upset her, I told her that he probably thought she was using the wrong door to leave.
Truth is, I think that bastard was telling her to leave.
When he said that to her, her and I were separated by about 7-10 feet because of people who were exiting and talking. I notice that he said NOTHING while I was next to her. He waited until she was alone to shoot off his mouth.
By the time she told me about it he was long lost in a sea of silverheads, but I really wish I would have heard that ...
"FLU PANIC: 33 year old man pummels elderly veteran in Flu line fracas"
And I would have been portrayed as the bad guy!
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