Excellent "Urgent" Care

Because of the doctor shortage in New Orleans, there are no physicians who will see me for strep-like symptoms for TWO WEEKS. So, I opted, this afternoon, for the new "Urgent" Care Center on Napoleon and Claiborne. After filling out paperwork that had been copied halfway onto the page, and halfway off, I waited 20 minutes to be seen by the same nurse, who 20 minutes prior, had yelled down from the second story to the receptionist,

"I'm playing hookie and going on a tour! Don't tell anyone!"

I then waited in the patient room for another 20 minutes to be seen by a tiny little doctor, about four feet tall, whose eyes took up most of her face, who told me she likes "old-fashioned" drugs better than the new ones because they work faster (no questions asked after that one), and that I'll have to order Diamatap over-the-counter because "druggies today" now make it into crystal meth.

Said doctor finally diagnosed me with "a red throat," and prescribed me with a Z-pack and codeine, the good ole New Orleans way.