second week past. a big thing happened. i think it's the day after my outbreak, or actually it's the day when my outbreak took place. Sarah called in for doc. she seemed to expect doc being angry at her. she needed to take a day off. and the next day as well. that week she came in twice. i was unofficially taking over most of receptionist's job. i said unofficially, because i felt i was undertrained. there were still a lot of stuff that i did not know. doc was not a great trainer but even a worse direction giver. additionally, it's extremely unfortunate that he met me, who had difficulty communicating normally.
initially, Sarah called in for sick day. doc told her to come in so he could "adjust" her. "adjust" is a term, chiropracist used for their terminology. then it hit me. i suddenly understood what chiropractic really was about. initially, i was thinking it's some kind of massage focusing on spines. but now i see that chiropractist actually think that they could cure disease far more than just joint problems. i was in disbelieve. yes, some would think that i should feel at home with this. because my dad was a traditional chinese Doctor. however, to be a real Doctor, you need to have other ways determining what disease patient is having. the way i saw how chiropractist determining their patient's disease, they are still just masseuse on spines with a guess list. but enough of this critic. so Sarah came in that afternoon for "adjusting". then she left. doc had me putting her down for next few days as patient. she called next monday morning, saying that she went to hospital and need to talk to doc. i put doc on the phone, and doc was yelling at her with anger. it felt like he thought she betrayed him for going to hospital. he asked what you mean you have stomach problem... the next day, Sarah called again, this time, i gave doc the phone in his office. they were talking loud then quiet down a bit. doc even stepped outside through backdoor. i seemed to remember doc called somebody after that. i finally got message that Sarah was actually pregnant. on a note, this made chiropractist calling themselves doctor a joke to me. the news came from my mom, who got her share of news from linda, who was a personal friend of Sarah. my mom told me not to mention it. doc was very upset over it. and i was confirmed that i will took over most of the front desk job. i always hoped Sarah would be back in a few days. i liked Sarah, she's much more able to give direction and easier to be with in general.
if i remembered correctly, on the same day as my outbreak, doc asked me to post a job on craigslist. i was happy to oblige. it felt like a relieve. so although Sarah was not there, and doc was a not easy to work with. i felt quite relieved knowing that i would be off the jobin two weeks. then on the wednesday of my third week, i finally gathered enough courage to remind doc that my first week had passed as for my two week notice. doc was all smiling, spoke softly to me that he thought we were cool after the talk in room, and i already dropped the idea of leaving. he told me to think it over again, and asked me was it really that bad working here? i was immediately put into dismay. but a young girl appeared the next day. a white, pale, skinny young girl. she was put immediately to work. we chatted a little bit, she was a greek came to usa just 11 months ago. she lived quite close to here. unfortunately for her, it's a mess that day...
the new girl's name was Maria. after a few chat, i found out that doc was doing a promotion at a gym just across the street. then doc asked me to call Sarah about all the equipment setup. Sarah directed me how to connect TV, Computer, and some kind of Thermal imaging machine. she said doc must be very upset that she could not made it that day. le sigh. but it showed how doc would conduct himself in this situation. he wanted things done. so he tried hard to keep contained. after we were done at the clinic that day at around 6:30. we then proceed to the gym. i had no clue what to expect, and that poor Maria, first day on the job, she just followed us. we went to the gym, i tried hard to figure out all the setup. but there was always something missing. i even needed to drive doc's nissan suv back to clinics to get a printer cable. but eventually, through trial and error and a few calls to Sarah, we setup the equipment and then we started to work. how did it work? you stand there as doc's crew, doc will ask those gym goers if they want to try an imaging test for free. if they tried and interested, Maria will then proceed to make an appointment with them. of course, it was a series of discount appointments for only $35. i tried operating the computer, and doc stand there using the thermal imaging system on people. and showing them results on the big flat TV screen. we stayed there until about 9, i think. funny thing that night was when i picked up the printer cable in the clinic, i got a call from police. Maria forgot to call home about this promotion. her mother in law called the office when no one answered, then she called police. i answered the phone and told them what happened. i thought it was okay now. i told Maria when i got back to the gym. then, Maria's mother in law called the gym, eventually had police came down looking for her in the gym! Doc was clearly annoyed by it...
i got home that night, not happy. not just because that i was unable to walk out of the job, but because also that no one told me about today's promotion before. Not sarah, nor doc. it's ridiculous. i got home almost 10, my mom told me she got doc's cell phone number and called doc. doc said i was on the way home. she though it's weird how come we needed to work this late.
this promotion made me think. the differences between business models of modern world and the old ones. my dad had an old ones, the only commercial that he had was word of mouth. he never needed to do this kind of promotion activiy. doc on the other hand also relied heavily on word of mouth, but he operated like a real "business". it's weird to felt like a "modern business" while really using your skills to cure people... i felt conflicted. ;[
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