We all have them and we all want good outcomes, quickly for the least amount of money possible.

I get it. Truly.

Take for example this renovation. We had this really cool new ADA accessible restroom built to replace the airplane closet restroom under the stairs with a sink that kept falling off the wall when folks tried to use it.

It’s beautiful.

It’s been out of order more days than it has been used because the toilet keeps backing up. We called the plumber out, who snaked it, found some old stuff in the pipes they tied into and said we should be set. Sent us a bill, I paid it.

Less than a week later, it backed up again. Called the plumber. Came out and ran a camera through the pipes, cleaned some more stuff out, said we should be good. Sent us a bill, I paid it. 

Another week, backed up again. Called the plumber. Came out and recommended we have a different plumber come out with a higher power flushing. Second plumber flushed the heck out of the pipes for several hours. Said we should be all set. Sent us a bill, we paid it.

2 weeks later, toilet backed up again. We are thousands of dollars into this. We are frustrated as heck to not have a usable restroom.

You know we didn’t do? We didn’t yell at the plumber, leave them negative reviews on social media, or demand they come back out and fix it for no charge because we already spent so much and obviously they should have fixed it right the first time.

Do I think they want to keep coming out and work on the same problem? Nope

Do I think they are just trying to take all my money and are purposely running tests to get all they can out of me? Nope.

I think they are doing what they think should work and when that doesn’t work, they try something else. I think they are pretty frustrated too that we still don’t have a working toilet and are doing everything they can to fix it.

Now, add to that … our patients are your pets. Living breathing creatures we care about, not a toilet. 

Be nice. We are trying the best we can, often trying really hard to stay within a tight budget.

We care too much and we hurt too.