750,000 Reasons To Quit
Bad Behavior, California, Great Stuff, USA, Vet | Healthy | March 18, 2018
(Federal law requires that before administering any vaccine or prescribing any medication, there must be a current DCPR — doctor-client-patient-relationship. Basically, the doctor must have examined the pet within one year of the date. I have been called up front to help a new coworker with a client who doesn’t seem to understand this.)
Client: “I don’t need an exam. He’s healthy. Just give him the shot.”
Me: “But federal law says we have to.”
Client: “But he had an exam in January.”
Me: “Yes, January of last year, so we could have given him the shot this January, but it is now April.”
Client: “Well, what can I do? He needs the shot.”
Me: “We can examine him.”
Client: “But I don’t want to do that. Could my friend Benjamin Franklin convince you?”
Me: “Are you asking me to accept a bribe?”
Client: “Maybe.”
Me: “You realize that the exam is only 50 bucks, right?”
Client: “Yeah, but I don’t want to have him examined.”
Me: “So, you want me to break federal law, make the doctor lose her license, and all my coworkers and me find new jobs in new career fields. Yeah, that’s going to be more than $100.”
Client: “So, how much?”
Me: “Seven hundred and fifty thousand.”
Client: “What?!”
Me: “Seven hundred and fifty thousand to break federal law; I think that’s cheap. Or 50 bucks for an exam.”
Client: “What times do you have on Tuesday?”
(After the client is scheduled and leaves…)
Coworker: “What would you have done if he said yes to the $750,000?”
Me: “Insisted he bring cash, and check all the bills for counterfeiting, then administer the vaccine. Tell the doctor, and split the money evenly among the whole staff.”
Coworker: “What?!”
Me: “Official company policy says that if someone wants to give you 15,000 times more than the price of the service, in cash, you are not to expected to turn them down. But accepting anything less, not getting cash, not checking it for fakes, or not splitting the bribe are all offenses that will get you fired. We’ve had that option for 30 years now; so far, nobody has ever taken us up on it. Can’t imagine why.”
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