I had to deal with a tire blowout recently. It was an expensive tire but it was made in China. Don’t buy tires made in China.

Okay, moving on. My tire failed on the freeway, in the dark, between towns and after all nearby (within 20 miles) tire shops had closed.

I also had some dental work recently. It was rather complicated and I needed to miss a few days of work.

And, my dog sustained an injury which required stitches (he’s healing well).

In the middle of this chaos, I had my annual physical at my regular doctor’s office.

It’s been a somewhat high stress 30 days. The tire blew out on my way to catch a plane to a very important (to me) speaking engagement. The oral surgery was very unpleasant and affected my work—I talk for a living!

The dog’s injury was very stressful because, as you dog owners know, dogs want to lick wounds and licking wounds is very bad. I was watching him constantly.

My physical went well though it was during all these other events. I had a tooth prepped for a crown back in December but the dentist decided to put off seating the crown until after the oral surgery. His decision.

Stay with me.

Ok, here’s the scorecard.

Tire Shop: A+  I called what I thought was a tire shop. It turned out to be a racetrack. While I was putting on the spare, the guy from the racetrack called a friend at home who owns a tire shop. He met me at the shop. My spare was replaced by a good MADE IN USA tire. He said I should replace all the tires but he had only two in stock and said I could get a better price when I had the time to shop. He charged only for the tire he installed, did the work very carefully and did not charge me anything to come from home to open the shop.

Dentist: C  The dentist did a good job prepping my tooth. But he knows that I have had oral surgery in the same general mouth area—still his office keeps calling to “remind” me to get the crown placed. I must keep reminding them that I cannot do that until the surgical work is completely healed. Good grief. They want “to get paid for the crown”.  Well, think about it!!!!

Vet: D  When your “kid” is hurt, you feel awful, stressed, worried. You want answers and CLEAR instructions. Things like “he can go outside but keep him off that foot for 4 days” are muddy instructions. How does the dog go outside and off the foot at the same time? “He should take 3 pills per day”.  Should? TELL ME WHAT TO DO.

Doctor: F  I really like my doctor. He’s a good doctor and I consider him a friend. His receptionist is awful. Couldn’t be worse. I came in for my physical with a swollen mouth after my dental surgery under stress from having to leave the dog. I’m not going to go into details but the receptionist has no business interfering with my medical care. She did. It was wrong.  She made a difficult day for me, worse.

Conclusion

I see medical practices getting sloppier by the day. It seems to get worse all the time. I hear from people almost every day about some horrific medical experience. Did you know that medical error KILLS over 100,000 people in the US every year? (US CDC Statistics)

And yet, the guy with the tire shop came down to his shop to help me, after hours. He took his time and did a good job. He removed and checked my other tires so I would be safe. He recommended new tires but did not want to “mix and match” so he replaced my defective Chinese tire with a high quality US made tire that I could easily match. I have since done exactly that.

Tire shop good and professional. Medical practices, sloppy, careless and pushy. Where does your business fit in?

Chris Reich
TeachU