September 5 - 8....Week From Hell!!!

I’m drained and frustrated. After a really decent Labor Day weekend, I went to work knowing that it was going to be crazy busy but I didn’t know it was going to be hell! This week there wasn’t a day where I wasn’t upset, on the verge of tears or actually all out crying! Wednesday was the worst!

First I should mention that I have new neighbors next door, another doctor’s office. They aren’t strangers to us as one of the doctor’s went to school with my boss and the secretary, Giselle, I’ve known for years. Not to sound like a snob but the caliber of patients they have going through their office is quite different then ours and over the years, my friend has had quite the number of “run ins” with her patients. Wednesday, their office is closed in the mornings so one lady, I’ll call her Stupidrella (LoL!), walked into my office. I had a room full of patients in my waiting room and my boss was running quite behind in schedule so you can imagine what kind of a day I’d been having. Stupidrella marched over to my desk, identified herself as one of the patients from next door and demanded that she see a doctor because she was in a lot of pain with her foot. It was clear to see because she was limping and had her foot wrapped in a tensor. I explained to her that I was fully booked, couldn’t not take her in and that next door will open at 2. She was getting irritated and started her whole sob story of how long her foot’s been bothering her, how much she’s been going through…marital problems…blah, blah, blah. I told her again firmly that I couldn’t help her. She left the office and little did I know but she went next door to my other friend, Michelle and complained about me saying how I have “pissy attitude”. Michelle just laughed it off. We find it funny how people think they can say stuff about another person that works in the building, thinking we won’t say anything to one another! Stupidrella came marching back in and said, “You know what, I’m seeing a doctor! I’m in a lot of pain!” I told her that I wasn’t going to take her and that she’ll have to see her own doctor at 2. “This is fucking ridiculous! You people took a fucking oath to take care of people and here you are turning me away! You shouldn’t be working here cuz you have no fucking compassion and you’re an absolute fucking bitch!” she yelled while standing in the middle of my waiting room. Since I felt no obligation towards her as she wasn’t a patient of ours and she was cursing me, I decided to tell her, “Get the fuck out of my office.” “NO! I will not leave!” replied Stupidrella. “I am not leaving. I’m waiting at least until the doctor comes out. I have to tell your boss how much of a pissy attitude you have and how much of a fucking bitch you are!” I told her that she wouldn’t have to wait and used my intercom to call my boss out in the middle of seeing a patient. “What’s going on here?” he asked. All of a sudden, her voice went a few decibels lower and said, “I’m in a lot of pain with my foot and I need to see you. I’m a patient of the doctor’s next door but they’re closed.” She was going to continue with the sob story but my boss cut her off and said, “What did my secretary say?” “She said she couldn’t take me and was quite rude about it.” She replied. “Well, then you have your answer. You are not better off talking to me about it. I can’t see you. Do you see my waiting room? I’m already running behind with my own patients. Next door opens at 2 and if it’s that bad, you can go to the hospital.” Said my boss and went back into his office. I was in my file room, faxing something when she stood in front of my desk and rambled on about something. I wasn’t really paying attention but the last thing I heard her say before she left was, “Have a good day and God bless you.” I sat at my desk and all the patients were staring at me probably wondering if I was okay and if they should say something. I leaned forward to put my head in my hands and started to rub my temples. I could feel my stress getting to me. I was shaking, trying to breathe deeply and my head was pounding really badly. I tried to hold back but my emotions took over and tears flooded my face. I rushed into my back room and started to ball my eyes out. With great timing, Michelle came over to tell me what the woman said and she found me, sobbing. Eventually, I had to leave the office to go out for a walk to calm down. I was gone for half an hour.

It took a situation like this to really realize that I’m stressed and burning out very quickly. In the next few days, I will have to have a talk with my boss about the soonest possible time I can take time off before I absolutely lose my head!

Baby, Have No Fear...I'm Right Here. Won't You Come Around?

2 entries in a row I’m using song lyrics as titles. My reason, I suppose, is because I’ve had musical people to write about. I finally met Darien Brockington this passed Saturday. For those who aren’t familiar, he’s the guy I spoke about here. D is a very talented singer who hails from North Carolina. We’ve been in touch through myspace since late February/early March. The Toronto Urban Music Festival was Labor Day weekend at the Canadian National Exhibition which is really a HUGE fair that happens every year and it’s located about a 10-15 minute walk from home. Once I got confirmation from Darien that he would be there with Little Brother, I gave him my number and he said he would call me so we’d be sure to hook up.

As I woke up on Saturday and looked outside, my heart fell to the ground when I saw that it was raining! The weather channel did say that it would rain due to Hurricane Ernesto…I guess I was hoping they’d be wrong. We decided to go anyway. My sister, Carm and my friend, Amanda decided to wear hoodies and I brought an umbrella. We got to the CNE at around 6 and the rain never stopped! We went in and out of the buildings, doing a little shopping. We even walked through the midway where I won a Care Bear for Amanda. Manda also managed to get me on a ride! As we ate dinner, I looked at my watch and it was about 8:30. “I’m not going to meet him.” I stated. When Amanda asked why and said, “Cuz nothing’s going right. It’s pouring outside and Darien didn’t call. I bet you they’ll cancel the show cuz it’s outdoors or maybe they didn’t even make it here cuz of the weather. That would explain him not calling.” It was after 8:30 and we were making our way to the Bandshell Stage. Little Brother were scheduled to be on at 9. As we got closer, I heard the loud bass of hip hop music and Manda and I rushed towards the stage. There were about 40 people give or take a few. People were rocking their umbrellas, rain ponchos and hoodies and bouncing to the music. Because the benches were wet, people were standing on them to get a better view and we were no different. Frank N Dank just started doing a tribute to the late great J Dilla when they were stopped mid show. A guy came on the stage saying that they would have to stop the rest of the show due to the weather and safety issues. In fact, it was so windy that many umbrellas were turning inside out! Mine even broke! People started to boo and I wondered if Darien even made it. Next thing you know, the guy on stage said, “Don’t boo me, people. Blame Mother Nature…she’s winning this one. We’ve got all the artists here: Slum Village is here, Little Brother is here. We had a hot show for y’all….” Manda and I looked at each other. “He’s here!” I said, excitedly. Manda was determined for me to meet him...much to the dismay of my sister who was miserable all day because of the rain. We stood by the backstage doors in hopes of recognizing someone. It was REALLY windy and rainy at this point plus we were all wet and cold. We weren’t the only fools standing there though…there were a few people including these 2 white guys standing beside Manda. Apparently the dudes were talking about getting the guard’s attention and making plans to do so but before they did, Manda beat them to it. She got him to come over and explained that we were supposed to meet up with Darien, asking if he was back there. The guard sympathetically looked at us saying he was just security and he didn’t know who Darien was. We had been there for at least half an hour and I began to lose faith fast. My sister was losing patience plus I didn’t want us all to get sick cuz of me. I was telling Amanda to forget about it but she was insistent. “No! He’s here! You have to meet him!” she told me. “Manda, let’s go. Forget about it. It’s okay.” I told her. Then in the corner of my eye, I saw this guy walking towards the backstage doors. He was stopped by someone standing there and I recognized him right away. “DARIEN!” I called. He immediately looked up and smiled. He recognized me too. I was thrilled! We stood there hugging in the rain, I introduced my sister and Amanda…then Braveheart Vee took over. (Those who know me know that I am quite shy and not very assertive. Shoot, I could’ve met him back in February but my chicken shit self couldn’t even say hi!) I asked if we could go inside so we could take pictures and he agreed. I have to admit it felt pretty nice to follow him inside while everyone else was left outside. Manda took 2 pictures…Braveheart got real close to him too! She also got him to sign my entry pass for me. I don’t know what I would’ve done if Amanda wasn’t there! As Darien was up against the wall signing the pass, Braveheart went behind him to lean on him and put her chin on his shoulder to look at what he was writing! I’m telling you I don’t know where all that came from! All in all, everything was great. Darien was really sweet and easy to talk to. The personality that I picked up from the numerous emails we exchanged was exactly as I imagined. Not once did I feel like just a fan, I felt like we were friends. Also, he is a very, very handsome man…D, if you read this, your pictures really do you no justice!! Darien was so concerned about us getting home that he insisted that we take a cab and offered to pay for it! We refused to take his money but I promised we’d take a cab home. I’ll post pics of our day and you’ll see the smile on my face…even ‘til now that same smile has not left my face!