A Parent Called Out Their Child’s Late Doctor, but Reddit Says One Phrase Made It Worse
The appointment was running 45 minutes behind, but commenters were split over whether the parent had a point or just picked the wrong words.
It started the way every deceptively simple doctor’s appointment starts: they got there early, were called back on time, and figured they had built in enough of a cushion.
Then the waiting started.
That was the setup in a recent Reddit post, where one parent asked if they were wrong for mentioning they were “also a professional” after waiting 45 minutes for their child’s doctor.
The original poster explained that they had taken their preteen to a midday pediatric dermatology appointment for what they described as a minor issue. Because they expected the visit to move fairly quickly, they scheduled a client meeting for later in the afternoon.
At first, things seemed on track.
“My kid and I got to the doctor’s office early and were called back right around the time it was scheduled,” the poster wrote.
A nurse checked them in, then a resident came in about 10 minutes later. After that, the poster (OP) said they were told the main doctor would be “right in” to finalize everything.
That is where the appointment started to unravel.
OP said they were 25 minutes into the appointment and still had not seen the main doctor. A nurse came in and said the doctor was finishing up with another patient.
Then another 15 minutes passed.
At that point, OP said they asked when they could “realistically” expect the doctor to come in. The nurse reportedly told them the doctor was still with another patient and would be there in 10 to 15 minutes.
OP admitted they were exasperated.
“We’ve been waiting a really long time,” they said they told the nurse. “I am also a professional, and I have a meeting that I have to attend, so I do need to wrap this appointment up.”
Five minutes later, the doctor came in. According to OP, the doctor did not apologize for the delay and began speaking directly to the preteen patient instead of greeting the parent first.
“Overall, it was an annoying experience,” OP wrote.
But the part that stuck with their child was not the wait. It was the “professional” comment.
“After the appointment, my kid said it was embarrassing when I mentioned that I’m a professional,” OP wrote.
OP argued that their point was not that their job mattered more than anyone else’s. They said they meant that their time was valuable too, especially since the delay was affecting their ability to do their own job.
Reddit, as usual, had no plans to let a single word choice pass quietly into the night.
Some commenters agreed that the wait was frustrating and that the office handled it poorly. One person said what bothered them most was not necessarily the delay, but the lack of useful communication.
“This happens at my clinic a lot,” one commenter wrote. “What does annoy me is the clinic will SMS you for everything. But they wont sms you ‘we are running 1 hour behind schedule’ which would be super handy.”
Another person made a similar point, writing that patients can usually handle delays better when they are not being strung along with vague updates.
“If you know they’re going to be 49 minutes and that affects your schedule, you can make a phone call to communicate on your own end,” they wrote.
Others said the double standard around appointment times is what makes these situations so irritating.
“If I show up an hour late for my doctors appointment I get canceled or fined,” one commenter wrote. “But it’s ok the doctor show up an hour late for my appointment that I’m paying.”
Still, plenty of people thought OP lost the room with the “I’m also a professional” line.
“Your child is right,” one person wrote. “The ‘I’m a professional’ bit is embarrassing.”
Another commenter said OP could have made the same point without sounding superior.
“You can point out that they’re late and it’s disrespectful but I don’t see how you being a professional has anything to do with it,” they wrote. “You easily could’ve just said that you had a job.”
Others were less sympathetic about the scheduling decision altogether.
“Try not to plan things after a medical appointment,” one commenter wrote. “It’s risky and you lost on that risk.”
A few commenters also pushed back on OP being annoyed that the doctor spoke directly to the child.
“To me, greeting the child first is good ‘bedside’ manner and helps the child feel validated,” one person wrote.
Another commenter was blunter: “Your mad the doctor greeted their patient before you?”
Several medical professionals and parents chimed in to say that, especially with a preteen, speaking to the child first can be a good thing. It helps kids learn how to explain symptoms, answer questions, and advocate for themselves when they eventually go to appointments without a parent managing the conversation.
One commenter put it this way: “A pre-teen is capable of explaining the issue and parents can fill in the blanks if necessary.”
That said, the comment section was not exactly giving the doctor’s office a free pass.
A number of people said emergencies and complicated cases happen, but the office should have been more upfront. One commenter shared that they had once waited nearly an hour at a gynecology appointment, but a staff member came in to explain the doctor was delivering bad news to another patient and offered to reschedule.
“Delays will happen,” they wrote, “but there are definitely more professional ways to handle it.”
That seemed to be the middle ground in the thread: OP had a valid frustration, but the phrasing made the whole situation worse.
In a final edit, OP appeared to agree.
“I admit that referring to myself as a ‘professional’ was AH behavior,” they wrote, adding that they could have simply said their time was valuable. They also said they apologized to their child, who accepted the apology.
A long medical wait is annoying. Poor communication makes it worse. But once the conversation turns into “my time matters because I’m a professional,” people are going to hear status, not scheduling conflict.
A better approach might have been to skip the “professional” part entirely and be more direct: “I’m sorry, but I have another commitment and need to leave by this time. Should we keep waiting, or would it make more sense to reschedule?”
That still makes the point. It just keeps the focus on the actual problem: the appointment was running late, and OP needed a realistic answer.
And for parents, there’s a second lesson tucked in here too: kids notice how adults handle frustration. Sometimes they are embarrassed by things that are perfectly reasonable. Other times, they are picking up on a tone we may not realize we used.
OP was right to want their time respected. Their kid may have also been right that the delivery needed work.
And this is not the only Reddit post where a stressful moment turned into a bigger conversation about boundaries. In another recent debate, a new dad turned away his in-laws after his wife’s C-section, and the internet had plenty to say about where support ends and pressure begins.
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this is interesting to read.
I think she had every right to be annoyed. I’m not as miffed with that “the professional” comment. I think she spoke in that way to try to make her point forcefully and out herself on an equal footing.
45 minutes late is a long time I’d be annoyed too.
I’d be annoyed by a 45-minute wait too, but I’d just say I had somewhere else to be.
Its always good to be honest with your doctor. Thanks for sharing.