Blog: SC*E*ed By Southern Cal Edison

So a few days ago I got back from Atlanta where my practice advisor’s mantra remains, “You get what you deserve.” And I agree.

Sure, some folks like former VP Cheney, the “developer” of the shifting pile of dirt on Rosemead and Las Tunas (since 2006), and inept USC Trojan football coach Lane Kiffin never seem to get what they deserve. Lucky them.

My message back to Atlanta: “Have you ever met Southern California Edison (SCE)?”

I just did finish writing apologies to our full schedule of patients who had their Monday appointments cancelled at the very last minute.

As someone who was his mom’s caregiver, I really appreciate what a total mind-rattling inconvenience eleventh hour scheduling changes can be.

And as I’ve noted here in the past, half of my erythrocyte content is Sicilian and when I’m not “smilin’ Jack there’s some serious “getting even is better than getting mad” DNA to be managed.

Last Monday, at 8:22AM, the lights may not have gone out in Georgia but they sure as hell went out at Temple City Dental Care. Didn’t feel an earthquake; didn’t hear a tree fall. And I knew the SCE check had already cleared.

Fortunately, at 8:22AM, we didn’t have a building full of folks lying back in chairs, facing up into a light with their eyes closed and mouths open (can you imagine how creepy that woulda looked once the power went out?)

Our 7:30 patient escaped unscathed. Our 8:30 group volunteered to bring back candles but since they weren’t bruin apologists, I respectfully declined their generous offer.

My iPhone corps first called our early patients, then SCE, and then cancelled the rest of the day’s appointments.

SCE, bless their hearts, was doing some pole maintenance down the street so the power would be down “only until about 4 o’clock.”

Me: “So why weren’t we notified?”

SCE: “You were.”

I started feeling a little philosophical: “So Ms. SCE, if a tree fell in the woods, how would a bear know that I knew he had relieved himself?”

SCE: “Huh?”

Me: “I’d have to ACKNOWLEDGE the bear’s notification!!!”

These days, we remind patients about their upcoming appointments by email, text, and phone calls. Sometimes the process is so complete it can be annoying.

Is it way too much to expect the same commitment from the local power monopoly?

Don’t know about you, and call me crazy but after being rendered powerless without warning and disappointing a bunch of co-workers and patients I view as family, I think that at the very least, an SCE apology is in order.

Wonder if I could apply the revenue lost as a credit over the next two years or so?
And one more thing; if the power was cut off down below, how long would it take hell to freeze over?