One ordinary day in Germany

I had to go to a clinic for diagnostics in another city. There are only a few clinics in Germany that deal with such specific issues. Since it is very difficult to get an appointment (TERMIN) at such a clinic and, as a rule, you can get it only in six months after calling them, I was happy when a place became available in one of these clinics because someone refused.

I took a day off since I had to go to this clinic by train for three hours one way. My train was at 05:20 am as I had termin at 09:00 am. The day before departure, this train was canceled without any replacement, so I had to call the clinic and beg them to allow me to come later that day. They agreed. I got into my morning train and traveled to a larger city from which I had another train. While I was on my first train, my next train was also canceled. I went to the information service and my route was adjusted, now I had to go to Nuremberg, and then take another train. The train to Nuremberg arrived later and I didn't get into the next train. I went to the information service again, now in Nuremberg, and my route was adjusted again - from Nuremberg I had to take two more trains. The next train was late again, but this time I managed to run into my last, fourth train, which should take me to my final destination. Thus, instead of three hours, I "traveled" by trains for six hours. Of course, I was very late for my termin, but I had no choice, I couldn't go home, I paid 70 euros for tickets, so I ran, hoping that I would be accepted after all.

For information. In Germany, trains are often canceled, trains are often late and people miss their planned routes. Of course, when you have your car, you may not even notice all these facts.

The clinic had a system failure and they could not find me in the database, and then they could not identify my family doctor. When everything was ultimately done, I was told that I had to wait in the waiting room until they accepted the patients who came in their time.

The second hour of waiting had already passed.... I became very patient in Germany.... Because, to be honest, in Ukraine, knowing myself and knowing the vast majority of Ukrainians, I would have gone and very CLEARLY explained to employees in the information center of the railway station and the clinic that they did not know how to work properly and they were not client oriented. So, PATIENCE is my mantra and a skill that is heavily practiced in Germany. But this time, the problem was also that I couldn't wait for a long time because I had a return ticket and I could be late for the train again. I went to the reception and very calmly explained that I had a train and I didn't want to be late for it.

- Could you please make some more exclusions for me and give me a possibility to be the next one?

- Yes, of course - no problem. You will be the next.

A young woman answered me politely.

Well, as you could guess, another woman was the next one, then another, and then again another, not me.... And so I sat in a queue for another hour and a half. Realizing that I had already missed my back train, I prayed to catch the one at 19:00, it was the last one, and if I missed it, I would have to spend the night here and quickly look for some kind of accommodation, which was difficult and expensive.

When I left the only one in the waiting room, a nurse came to me and took me to a doctor's room. This meeting took another hour, which was very long for Germany.

- Will you be able to catch your back train?

The nurse asked.

- No, I already missed it. The main thing is to be on time for the last one, otherwise, I will have to spend the night here.

- Sorry for taking so long!

- Everything is OK.

I left the clinic and realized that it was already after 18:00, and I had the last and only time to eat at six in the morning. To have lunch in a beautiful old town in the center, as I planned, I could not, I did not even have time to have a snack on the way somewhere in breaks between trains, because I was constantly running from train to train to catch them. There was a feeling that I would lose consciousness in the next three or five minutes. I had only one thought: "Get to the station. There is hot tea and food. And I will not lose my consciousness." After a quick snack at the station, I got into my train and realized how tired I was, my bones and entire spine ached, and I felt slightly nauseous with a hint of dizziness.

At some big station, everyone left the train and I was alone. I took my mobile phone and was glad that there was free Wi-Fi, which I was even able to connect to from my Ukrainian phone number. After opening social networks, I realized that now I would vomit.... It was the day when the blackout first occurred in Ukraine. I lay down on the seat, curled up like a small child, and began to moan softly. A DB employee passed me.

- Frau, are you okay? Do you feel well? Do you have any pain?

- Yes, everything is OK! The whole body hurts, but that's ok. But here, here it burns.

I pointed to that part of the body where the heart and the soul are.

February 26, 2023.