You Need To Have A Strong Backbone For This Line Of Work

I’m a physical therapist, and I hear my colleague speaking on the phone to a patient.

Colleague: “I’m telling you, if you don’t come to your appointments twice in a row, it’s protocol that we close your file.”

Patient: “So now you hate me? What is this? All I want is to continue my treatments!”

Colleague: “I understand, but as I said before, we can’t do that here. May I ask why you didn’t come to these past few appointments?”

Patient: “Well, my back didn’t hurt anymore so I didn’t need it! But now it hurts again, and now you won’t treat me just because you hate me! I want to speak with your manager immediately!”

I am surprised at how well she has been handling the situation, seeing as how the patient has been screaming at her to the point where she is saying the same thing over and over again in three-minute intervals.

Colleague: “My manager isn’t here today. I have my next patient in a couple of minutes, so, to sum it up for you, if you come tomorrow I will not treat you, not because I hate you, but because those are the rules here.”

Patient: “F*** the rules!” *Click*