A Breath of Fresh Air

After working at Dr. Smith's office for nine years he fired me on Thursday evening.

On Monday morning of this week I walked into the office and noticed that he had hired a new girl. If I had been more intuitive, I may have figured out that she was my replacement. He called me into his office before I could even set my purse down. "Taylor, I want everyone in this office to become cross-trained. Start teaching Brenda (the new girl) to do your job" he said.

I can understand the need for cross-trained employees. "OK" I said, and began teaching Brenda the in's and out's of dental insurance. I spent all week showing her what I do, and correcting mistakes that she was making while trying to do it herself.

The problem is that she doesn't know how to read x-rays or create narratives to submit with claims. Every claim that she has submitted thus far will be denied for those reasons. I was stressing over the mess she was creating, but now I am just laughing. GOOD LUCK WITH THAT ONE DR. SMITH!

When Dr. Smith called me into his office at the end of the day, I then knew what was about to happen. How could I have been so blind? I suppose I trusted him to be loyal to a hard working, dedicated employee of nine years. My bad!

It felt as though he was breaking up with me. He said things like "you have a great personality" and "you have been here so long, you feel like family" followed by "things just aren't working out".

Seriously? I have been working for him for nine years. In that time I have become his only cross-trained employee, doing every job he offers in the office. I have worked with his hygienists, I have done chair-side with him, I have done finances for patients, worked on recall and have been the insurance coordinator. I don't understand, what part of that wasn't working out. My personal opinion is that he doesn't like my wardrobe.
Yes, he is that shallow to fire someone over petty things like wardrobe. He, of course, would never admit to that.

At the initial onset of this news, I was very upset. I couldn't even defend myself because he had turned me into a blithering idiot. I wish I had thought of something shocking and witty to say like "I have been accepted to hygiene school and was planning on leaving soon anyway". Perhaps some things are better left unmentioned.

Come to find out, I was the last to know that I was on the chopping block. Word travels fast between the employees at Dr. Smith's office. Yesterday I was told that everybody knew that Brenda was hired as my replacement. Learning about that is more insulting than being fired. People who I have considered friends looked at me as a dead man walking and didn't bother to give me a heads-up.

Now that I have had a couple of days to let this settle in, I am feeling alright about it. I no longer have to deal with the catty behavior of coworkers or worry about pleasing the impossibly pleasable Dr. Smith. I can take time this summer to take a few classes at the college to prepare for this fall when I begin the hygiene program. I will have time to enjoy my summer with Munchkin and this extra time will help with our near future move. All in all, I think this might be the best thing that could have happened.