Act I
In 1980, Barry accepted a position at the University of
Texas Health Science Center at Dallas. Two years later, when our daughters were
just 5 and 3 years of age, I decided what I wanted to do when I grew up, and I applied
and was accepted into the graduate program in statistics at Southern Methodist
University.
The adjustment to being a mother and a full-time student
after more than six years away from my previous educational pursuits was not an
easy one. But with Barry as an unwavering partner, we managed to maintain a
good sense of humor and to keep all the balls in the air most of the time.
One notable exception would seem a minor incident if it were
not for the fact that our daughters remember this so well and reminisce about
it periodically. I had taken the girls to have a portrait done. We had an
appointment, but when we arrived the studio was crowded, and after waiting for
quite a while it became apparent to me that they were neither honoring
appointments nor taking the families in the order in which they arrived. I went
up to the front desk a couple of times only to be assured that it would be
soon. In retrospect I should have just bailed out and come back another day. Instead,
I have to admit that I lost my temper with the woman at the front desk. Isn’t
it funny, after so many years and so many (what I thought were) pearls of
wisdom shared with our daughters, this is one of the days they seem to remember
the best?
Act II
Our family spent the summer of 1991 in a variety of places.
We had sold our house in Sharon and took a number of trips, including one to
Israel. Our flight went through Paris where we were scheduled to catch a second
flight to Tel Aviv. Unfortunately, the flight out of Boston took off late and
we, along with hordes of others on the plane, missed the connecting flight.
Adding to the stress was the fact that it was already Thursday evening, which
meant we either had to obtain a seat on a flight early Friday morning, or spend
Sabbath somewhere near Paris to catch a flight Saturday night or Sunday. I am
sure there must have been passengers who were travelling to family celebrations
and really did need to get there.
Seeing the crowd of passengers trying to squeeze around a desk
to speak to one of the two airline representatives, we decided that Barry would
go off with the girls, get some drinks, and wait for me. I made my way to one
of the counters where a horde of people was yelling at this poor airline
employee. For just a moment, she looked up and I caught her eye and said “I
sure would not want to be in your position right now.” She smiled, and the next
thing I knew we were booked on another flight and given instructions on where
to stay for the night. We ended up finding our way to a lovely kosher
restaurant and walked up and down the Champs Elysees. Barry and I took the four
vouchers they gave us and went back to Paris for a week the following summer.
Act III
My last Sandostatin injection was due over Thanksgiving
weekend. Because we were not sure where we would be for Thanksgiving, rather
than making an appointment with my doctor, we planned to go over to the urgent
care near our house to have the injection done. We went on Friday morning, the
day after Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, something went awry, the needle broke
off, and the drug was spilled all over the floor. I was fine but the drug needs
to be administered every four weeks. Fortunately, I had one dose left at home
(the medication comes to me 3 doses at a time), so when we headed back up to
Sharon on Sunday I had the injection done at the urgent care center nearby, one
we have used quite a few times now.
Once this was done, we had to start figuring out what we
would do for my next dose. We quickly discovered that the physician who
performed the procedure needed to request a replacement dose from the
manufacturer. At this point things became complicated because we were having a
hard time getting him to take of this. After repeated calls, we called the
clinic and asked to speak to a manager. By that point it had been over a week since
the incident, so only a bit more than two weeks until the next dose will be
due. We explained the story to him and at first he seemed receptive, but another
couple of days went by with a lot of foot-dragging. Finally, Barry called and
told the office manager quite firmly that he was going to engage an attorney. After
that things went quickly, and I will shortly have the tracking number for the
new dose which is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow.
Moral
Remember,
The squeaky wheel always gets the grease.
But,
You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
Sometimes you just need to find a way to get ahold of a
bigger honeypot.
Love,
Rebecca
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