Shortly after we moved decades ago to our new neighbourhood when we bought the home we are currently living in, I had asked our doctor's office if they could recommend any local optometrists as I thought it was time to see if any change in my eyesight merited attention and a new prescription for eyeglasses. I was given the name and the address of a local optometrist and duly made an appointment.

When I arrived and identified myself and my appointment time I was given a survey to fill out; the usual thing, it appeared when coming for the first time to any medical service, and I began to fill out the details as requested. That done, I returned it to the receptionist, but she pointed out I had failed to complete most of the survey, so I returned with it, seated myself and began reading. It became readily apparent that the personal-health survey had attached to it a purely commercially-application survey asking me questions about preferred products.

I returned the thing intact to the reception desk informing the receptionist that I had no intention of completing a commercial questionnaire and she looked shocked, insisting that I had no option but to fill it out if I expected her employer to apply her professional skills to my benefit. I was annoyed to say the least, and responded that any professional that employed such means of coercion couldn't be much of a professional, and she heatedly responded in defence of her employer.

At which point the optometrist herself came to the front area from the back where the examination rooms were located to testily ask what was happening. When the receptionist explained in evident distress, the optometrist looked at me with icy disgust and told the receptionist to 'never mind', and she would examine me shortly.

That examination took place, professionally. The optometrist, a youngish woman, proved to be stiffly unyielding to my attempts to loosen the atmosphere, betraying not a hint of humour, grimly getting on with her task, limiting her words to just what was required in the process. Unlike my later experiences with another optometrist, this one was also selling products as well, a full array of frames and lenses. So I made my choice and was called at home some time later to pick up the finished product.

A finished product which I was unable to use; the lenses were far too strong for my needs; wearing the resulting eyeglasses to read for any length of time would give me a headache. I decided to put the experience down as a learning one, and to avoid this woman's professionalism like the plague.

And now, today, in the local newspaper, there she is smiling broadly among a group of another 20 or so local people representing local businesses, characterized as the "cream of the crop", chosen to represent "the best of the best in business, preparing to accept the 14th annual business excellence awards, hosted by the area chamber of commerce. Achh!

Health and Wellness Professional of the Year