Appointments- Don't be Uneducated or Belated.

The word I chose from my sources is appointment. The Oxford English dictionary defines appointment as, 4. An agreement or arrangement for a meeting; engagement, assignation; and 10. An allowance paid to anyone, especially to a public officer.”

I would associate the word ‘appointment’ with times and deadlines. I think in our current cultural period the mentality is: if you are early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late, and if you are late, in some situations, you may be better off not coming in at all. Having been to many doctor’s appointments, dentist appointments, and advising appointments, I understand the importance of punctuality in today’s society. Your appointment is usually a specific time and if you are there early before your appointment, sometimes you will be seen early and get done early, which generally is good for you. In today’s busy society, if you are there exactly at your appointment time, one red light, or one bad wreck on the road can make you late. If you are late to your appointment, you might have already upset the person who kind enough to take time out of their busy day to see you and deal with your problems. Punctuality and meeting deadlines is very important and I think of those two ideals in today’s society based on the word appointment.

When I think of appointment, I also think about the word ‘important’. Usually when you get an appointment, it’s for something you need. You don’t get an appointment to discuss which of the newest game consoles you should buy, because you can just go to the store any time to make a decision. You get an appointment when you are having a problem. For an example if you are having a problem with toothache, you get an appointment with a dentist. If you are having a problem with leg pain, you get an appointment with a doctor. These are usually problems that have a higher degree of need, and therefore you get an appointment to solve the problem.

The word appointment raises many questions in today’s society. Why do you need the appointment? Are you sick? Are you in pain? What time is the appointment? What day is the appointment? How bad is it? Different types of appointments can raise different questions. Political appointments, for an example from the President of the United States would raise the questions: Is this person qualified for the position he/she was appointed? What is the potential appointee’s plan to improve the lives of Americans and others around the road? Which of the other applicants could also be appropriate candidates to appoint to the open position? (Etc.)

In my particular topic, the word appointment would probably scare many patients that suffer from Selective Mutism. If they heard the word appointment, many would think of being poked and prodded to figure out why they won’t speak. Many Selective Mutism appointments probably involve a Psychologist or a Psychiatrist. If the word appointment is referring to the patient being appointed to a position, I imagine the patient would be anxious, fearing they will be asked to speak in their new position. Ultimately, the word appointment would probably give feelings of fear and anxiety to Selective Mutism patients.