Try Not to Slip
Try Not to Slip
Dennis Friedman Humble Dollar November 6, 2020
THE FLU SEASON was approaching, so I decided to schedule an appointment with my medical provider for a flu shot. The next morning, I received an email from my prescription drug plan informing me that it was processing a payment for $30.80. My immediate thought: “How could my medical provider charge me for a flu shot that I haven’t yet received? And why aren’t they billing Medicare?” Medicare provides a free flu shot to every enrollee.
I called my doctor’s office to find out what was going on. I explained to the billing department that I had been erroneously charged $30.80. I told the representative that I don’t take medication and the only explanation for the charge had to be the flu shot that I hadn’t received yet.
The representative said that couldn’t possibly be true, because the office doesn’t bill my prescription drug plan. We went back and forth for a while, until he suggested that I call my drug plan to find out what the charge was for. I said, “I know it’s for the flu shot and I’ll be calling you back to get to the bottom of this.”
I grudgingly called my insurance plan. While a representative there had me on hold, I decided to look again at the email I’d received. As I glanced at the message, I noticed in blue letters the words: “Premium payment of $30.80.” Yes, it was my mistake. I didn’t take the time to read the email carefully, and instead got emotional and jumped to conclusions. I usually don’t receive premium payment notifications from my prescription drug plan, but that didn’t excuse my behavior.
The next day, AT&T was coming to my house to service my wi-fi. I recently had my house remodeled and I believed the workers might have broken something during the renovation. I kept telling them that they needed to be more careful with our belongings.
When I reconnected the wi-fi, I couldn’t get access to the internet. I suspected the workers either damaged the modem or the wiring in my house. What else could it be? It was working perfectly before they showed up.
When the service repairman arrived, he bent down, looked at the modem and said, “Oh, I see your problem. You have the wires on the modem reversed. They’re connected to the wrong ports.”
Yes, it was my mistake. I didn’t pay close attention to what I was doing when I reconnected the modem. I was so sure it was someone else’s fault.
I like to think neither of those mistakes would have happened in earlier years. As I’ve grown older, I’ve become more impatient, emotional and overconfident in what I’m doing. I also sometimes don’t see the obvious.
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