I got an automated call the other day. It was supposedly from the hospital with which I have a pay dispute. The robotic voice asked me to call the hospital back at their “business office,” but the phone number it gave me is not listed anywhere on the hospital’s website. So I guess the bill has already gone to collections. That was quick! It’s another way in which hospital billing practices stink.
My father had a pay dispute with someone recently, too, and he said that he told the guy to “go pound sand.” That cracked me up, because it’s the same phrase I use when talking about that ridiculous hospital bill. The things we pick up from our parents! In this case, it’s not just the idiom that I inherited, but also the stubborn refusal to be taken advantage of. These are good things to pass along from generation to generation.
When I mentioned to my dad that I’d told the hospital to go pound sand, he suggested that I also tell them to “go shit in their hat.” That’s a colorful phrase, isn’t it? But that one’s not likely to be passed down through the generations. Were I to use it at home, my son would cry, “Language!” and my husband would announce, “Mommy has a potty mouth!” And yeah, maybe I do have a potty mouth, but if so, then we know who I got it from!