Remember those books where you read a page and then you chose what happened next?  I loved those.  Let’s try it.

A lady takes her dog to the vet for an unusual swelling.  In the course of the exam she mentioned that this happened last year too on another place.  She took the dog to another vet, who she won’t name but who she will never go to again, and they recommended surgical repair.  When she denied that option they agreed to just drain it but told her it wasn’t the best idea.  They took the dog to the back of the hospital and he returned with a large bandage.  Three days later when he shook off the bandage the swelling was still there.

Should the owner:

1.  Realize that she chose a course of action that the veterinarian told her probably wouldn’t work so not be surprised when the swelling recurred, i.e. it didn’t work. Maybe she should call the veterinarian to discuss other treatment options.

or

2.  Assume that the veterinarian took the dog to the back of the clinic and did absolutely nothing but wrap the dog like she thought the owner wouldn’t even notice that the swelling was still there when the bandage was removed.  The veterinarian did this just to get her money obviously and therefore she will never go back there and she is still telling everyone about the scam a year later. 

When the tech and I looked her oddly and told her about option 1, she was genuinely surprised.  It had never occurred to her.  Why do some people automatically assume that they are important enough that other people concoct elaborate schemes just to mess with them?