One of the things I hate most is when people don’t value your time and just don’t seem to care. Yesterday I visited a doctor for the first time on a referral and thankfully everything ended up ok but the actual visit itself bothered me. I arrived at the office 10 minutes early for a 1pm appointment. The front door was locked and while I figured it was because they were probably on lunch, I dialed their number on my cellphone just to be safe. The receptionist who was inside the office answered the phone and confirmed that they were on lunch and that the office would reopen (ie. she’d unlock the door) in 10 minutes.

Sure enough, at 1pm I heard the deadbolt unlock. I thought perhaps the receptionist might open the door to let me in as she knew I was waiting, but no, she just unbolted the door. Ok, fine. I can open the door but I just thought a bit of courtesy would be in order.

From 1:00pm – 1:40pm, I waited in the reception area with 2 other patients for my 1pm appointment. I had initially figured because they were coming back from lunch, they would be on time with appointments. Apparently not.

No one said anything. The receptionist sat there, a nurse walked in and out, and then a third person came in and the three of them spent about 10 minutes in front of us waiting for our appointment talking about their schedule and about how they could rearrange it to fit in some upcoming vacations. Not once did any of them acknowledge or say anything to the three of us who were waiting.

Finally, at 1:40pm, I got called in for my appointment by the third person who was part of the conversation. She was the doctor it turns out.

My appointment lasted 5 minutes and I was gone. I have to say that this event made me pretty angry when I realized how many people – certainly many in the medical profession – have absolutely no regard for other people’s time.

These are the same people who make a big deal about their 24 hour cancellation policy and that if you don’t cancel your appointment on time, they might charge you for the visit anyways. It seems that time only has value when it’s their time that we’re talking about.

Why can people get away with this sort of treatment without caring?

Because they can.

It’s called courtesy and many people just don’t have it when they’re in control.

What are you going to do in response? Storm out of the office and not bother attending the appointment? People act this way because they know you have no alternative and because they don’t care.

What does this all mean to you and your career?

Remember that people are watching you, are paying attention to your actions and how you interact with them. Certainly if you showed up 30 minutes late to an interview and said nothing, it’s most likely going to cost you.

I once had a guy come in for an interview with me who arrived over 30 minutes late and never said a word about it. He didn’t acknowledge he was late, didn’t call ahead to let me know, didn’t apologize. When I mentioned that he was really late and that I had another interview in a few minutes, he acknowledged he was late but his attitude seemed to be that the interview start time was a suggestion rather than a firm appointment.

He just didn’t care.

Following the interview which I kept very short on purpose, I decided that I didn’t care either and I decided not to help him with his job search.

Calling ahead to tell someone you’re running late is a courtesy. I’m probably not happy when someone is running late because I tend to be on time but if they call me ahead of time and make me believe they are genuinely sorry, I’m likely to look past it.

When I sit in a doctor’s office for 40 minutes and the people running the office are oblivious to the fact that there are 3 patients waiting for an appointment, that’s just a lack of courtesy and professionalism. In their case they act this way because they can.

Think about your habits in terms of being on time, courtesy, how you treat other people and make sure you’re not turning people off and possibly losing out on opportunities in the process.