Bipedal Avisual Communication Techniques

I don't like the talking to strangers on the phone at the best of times. I'd much rather write or talk face-to-face. With writing, you get to think about what you're saying, and make sure it's really what you mean. With face-to-face talking, you get to use body language and facial expressions, and you get to see the other person's too (it is true that I've found myself gesturing into the void while on the phone, but I do realize that the other person can't see me. Usually). On the phone with strangers, I feel like I'm trying to do sign language blindfolded, and only using my feet.

And another thing I don't really enjoy is dealing with the health insurance company. I'm always sort of afraid that I won't be able to find the secret number and the right code and then they'll just say, "Right. Now you've done it. We're breaking up with you. You owe us sixty-five thousand four hundred twenty-two dollars and thirty-four cents for all the medical care you've ever gotten and some you haven't. Payable immediately. No credit cards."

So, right there are two things that tend to cause me anxiety and increase my heart rate. Therefore, it really was funny that I was on the phone to the strangers at the health insurance company, trying to find out the name of a cardiologist that I could talk to about my heart condition. You know, the heart condition that makes my heart beat really really fast sometimes. Maybe this is really some kind of exposure therapy. What doesn't kill you makes you... anxious. I think that's how that goes.

Update:
Thanks to another Medical Friend and some blatant name dropping (of her name, by me, to more Strangers On The Phone), I have an appointment next week with our local rock star cardiologist. Moral of the story for this week: make friends with Medical People. It's possible that I would have gotten right into the ER and to see the rock star with no intervention, but as I said, I don't plan to repeat this experiment. So we'll never know.