Patronizing Gay Businesses

[+ Lucky]

Patronizing Gay Businesses...it hasn't worked so well for me. My experience has been that a gay business is just as likely, if not more, to rip you off than any other kind of business.

 

I remember the first openly gay doctor we patronized in West Hollywood years ago. No matter what you came in for, he had to do a prostate exam. He was a chubby guy, and he got this smug smile on his face as he gloved up, but hey, we didn't know better. Sure, we suspected he was just having his jollies. But it wasn't like you could say anything.

 

When I moved to the desert, I looked up a gay dentist. He put two crowns in my mouth and billed me premium prices. I had occasion to get a dental exam as part of another procedure and that dentist told me that a) one crown had a chip in it, and b) the second crown didn't fit properly.

 

So I went through the process of getting my money back on the chipped crown, and the dentist fought it. However, we had pix so he had to cough up eventually. We decided to forego the refund on the misfitted crown.

 

That was a mistake. Over time the area where the nerve wasn't properly covered became sensitive, and today I went in to the new dentist to have it replaced. Turn out there was no gold inside the porcelain, just a cheap metal. It's been 4 years, so I have to check to make sure he billed me for a gold base, but just by the price alone I am confident he did.

 

Nowadays, I go to the guy who is supposed to be the best, gay or not. Yes, of course, I have met good gay professionals. It's just that you can't be certain that a gay business is going to be good just because they serve a gay customer.

[+ glutes]

Quoting Karl-G :

" I do not understand why, on this message board amongst a gay community,

such a vitriolic attack is made upon a gay business which gives pleasure

to many people."

[+ Lucky]

vitriolic [ˌvɪtrɪˈɒlɪk]adj1. (Chemistry) (of a substance, esp a strong acid) highly corrosive

2. severely bitter or caustic; virulent vitriolic criticism

 

So you are saying that the gay dentist gives great pleasure to the community?

How long has it been since you saw a dentist? Pleasurable is the last adjective that comes to mind!

[+ glutes]

vitriolic [ˌvɪtrɪˈɒlɪk]adj1. (Chemistry) (of a substance, esp a strong acid) highly corrosive

2. severely bitter or caustic; virulent vitriolic criticism

 

So you are saying that the gay dentist gives great pleasure to the community?

How long has it been since you saw a dentist? Pleasurable is the last adjective that comes to mind!

 

No Lucky, you are never bitter or caustic.

Butt giving pleasure to the community, I bet you that GP was!

 

http://www.rankopedia.com/CandidatePix/36656.gif

[JoeyBryant]

It's just that you can't be certain that a gay business is going to be good just because they serve a gay customer.

 

You know I was thinking the same thing the other day? I haven't been to any (from what I've known) gay owned medical places but over the times I've visited gay establishments I've sensed a certain lack of customer service.

 

I have witnessed times where someone's credit card or ID is misplaced. The person responsible (e.g. bartender/front desk person etc) acts so nonchalant, as if there's nothing they can do. Oops. Then the manager comes barging in, raising hell and asks the customer, "what do you want!?"

 

I think its great to have gay establishments around, and I'd probably go to them more but many are over-priced and over-rated. In addition they usually cater to 1 group of clientele, so most of them have a segregated feel to them; which tends to drive me away.

[whipped guy]

How long has it been since you saw a dentist? Pleasurable is the last adjective that comes to mind!

I hope that comment is in jest because if taken seriously it is really unfair to many dentists and to dentistry in general...

 

I personally enjoy going to the dentist... I close my eyes and imagine...

 

You can only imagine what I imagine!!!

 

Something about traversing that infamous fine line...

[+ Lucky]

Okay, whipped guy, today a friend told me that he and his partner had rented a fancy hotel room for a three-way in a sling. That then got me thinking, as I sat in the chair, of my last hotel fun. If the dentist had any idea what was going through my mind the drill would have slipped!

 

As for Dr. Happy back in the old days, he was the only doctor ever to give me a microscope slide to hold under my penis as he stroked my prostate. He said he had to collect the fluid for exam, as that was the only way to make sure everything was alright. He would then go look at the slide under the microscope and pronounce everything fine...until the next time.

 

Was it fun? No, I was too fixed on the role of a doctor to think that I could enjoy that. But then again, squirting the fluid wasn't a bad feeling. Maybe I should role play that with Joey Bryant...

[instudiocity]

The measure of any business/professional/service.

 

Lucky,

 

As a general rule, anytime someone has attempted to market themselves as anything other than a consumate provider of the bus/prof/serv I'm seeking, I grow very wary.

 

If you have to tell me you're Gay/Straight/Christian/Catholic/Buddist or whatever before during or after providing me with what I'm purchasing, you scare the crap out if me.

 

I immediately begin to question how I might have received LESS THAN THE BEST.

[EXPAT]

Lucky, I agree with you completely. I continually try gay businesses only to be disappointed almost every time. As a veteran in the business world myself, I want to get behind counters and on the phone to help them function in a much better manner. I just don't get it. Do some of these business owners just think that gay people will come (so to speak) just because they are a gay business? It is really a big issue with me.

[rvwnsd]

I've had mixed experiences. My doctor is gay and he is just terrific. He refuses to take "no" for an answer from my insurance company and he is happy to decline prescribing medication when it is not necessary. He doesn't dispense antibiotics for the common cold and told me that his patients aren't supposed to read the drug company ads. The gay dentist was another story. I liked him at first, but the office service declined after a change in personnel. He then told me that I needed upwards of $2,000 in dental work. Second and third opinions concluded that I needed one root canal, which he missed. I now go to a very nice dentist whose office isn't as snazzy as the gay dentist, but the work is better.

 

At the local gay bookstore, the service ranges from friendly and helpful to non-existent, just like at businesses not owned by gays and lesbians. I agree that patronizing the business that meets/exceeds your expectations is the best thing to do.

[+ Gar1eth]

Doctors

 

I have two internists--one doesn't know I'm gay. The other is gay and is part of a gay centered practice. I feel a lot more comfortable talking about certain subjects with the doctor at the gay centered practice than I do with the non-gay physician. Why do you ask--don't I just pick the gay centered practice as my main physician? I probably would but the gay centered practice is in a city about 45 minutes to an hour away from me--so for acute illnesses I use the local non-gay guy.

 

Gman

[whipped guy]

Okay, whipped guy, today a friend told me that he and his partner had rented a fancy hotel room for a three-way in a sling. That then got me thinking, as I sat in the chair, of my last hotel fun. If the dentist had any idea what was going through my mind the drill would have slipped!

Yes, I can certainly relate... but did you endure the procedure sans local anesthetic as is my wont????

[+ newatthis]

dentists -- not just gay ones

 

...The gay dentist was another story. I liked him at first, but the office service declined after a change in personnel. He then told me that I needed upwards of $2,000 in dental work. Second and third opinions concluded that I needed one root canal, which he missed...

Over the years, I've reluctantly come to the conclusion that many dentists have a penchant for pushing services that aren't really necessary. I base this primarily on second opinions. One of many examples: a dentist who kept saying my son needed braces (he recommended his friend the orthodontist); each time he made the recommendation, I would book an appointment at a local dental school where they would confirm my clear impression that no orthodontia was needed.

 

I suspect that fluoride and other good preventative practices have severely reduced what a dentist can make from routine fillings.

[+ Lucky]

The dentist yesterday told me of a study where they compared dentist billings to insurance companies for crowns. 90% of the billings were for crowns with precious metal. Then they analyzed 10,000 crowns actually used, and only 45% of them had precious metal.

Unless you have to have it removed, how do you ever find out?

[Guest greatness]

you should see my dentist

 

He is very honest and nice but you have to travel to east coast.

 

The dentist yesterday told me of a study where they compared dentist billings to insurance companies for crowns. 90% of the billings were for crowns with precious metal. Then they analyzed 10,000 crowns actually used, and only 45% of them had precious metal.

Unless you have to have it removed, how do you ever find out?

[KMEM]

WG-

 

I can relate. I don't ever use procaine or the like unless my dentist says, "you need to use it for this". I hate to say it but that means I have had a LOT of dental work done without benefit of "pain shots". I hope you are not doing it for "sensational" reasons. I was not; I just don't like to have one side of my face deadened for what seems like hours.

 

Lucky-

 

The only way to "know" if your dentist is treating you correctly is to trust him because he has a "wonderful" reputation, etc. I feel fortunate that all 3 of the dentists that have been in my life were trustworthy.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

[firsttimer]

As for Dr. Happy back in the old days, he was the only doctor ever to give me a microscope slide to hold under my penis as he stroked my prostate. He said he had to collect the fluid for exam, as that was the only way to make sure everything was alright. He would then go look at the slide under the microscope and pronounce everything fine...until the next time.

 

That is disturbing. I have never heard of any doctor do that and this Dr. Happy sounds like a peverted guy. There is no need to produce any fluid from a prostate exam to look under a microscope. I have no idea what you'd even see as you can't see HIV like that! No STDs are confirmed that way either.

[+ Lucky]

Dr. Happy

 

I hate to give myself away, but this happened 30 years ago. There was no HIV then, or, at least we didn't know about it. The idea of having a gay doctor was quite new, so many of us chose him.

[+ deej]

30 years ago I was bending over for Navy doctors, like so many of my 20-ish contemporaries.

 

None of us realized until many years later that prostate exams were usually recommended for guys in their 40's and later.

 

Hey, sailor!

[whipped guy]

Going solo!

 

WG-I can relate. I don't ever use procaine or the like unless my dentist says, "you need to use it for this". I hate to say it but that means I have had a LOT of dental work done without benefit of "pain shots". I hope you are not doing it for "sensational" reasons. I was not; I just don't like to have one side of my face deadened for what seems like hours.

 

Actually, I hated getting the local anesthetic as a child... not the needle per say, but I hated the numb feeling... or as Bill Cosby said in his "dentist routine" having your "lip in your lap" and for hours at a time! After two visits with local I told my dentist... and mind you I was a child... that I wanted to have the work done with out any "novocaine"... though I think he was using xylocaine with epinephrine at the time... and that made the numbing effect last even longer! He tried to talk this crazy kid out of it... but guess what!? I survived not only one filling, but he did two others during the same visit!! Definitely the way to go... three fillings in three different quadrants of the mouth in one visit. Plus, I walked out of the place feeling like a whole human being... and I have done it as such ever since. I certainly seemed like a dentist in the making at the time... and a masochist in training as well!?? Or was I just a crazy kid... who is still a bit off the wall!!???

[+ Charlie]

When I was a kid, the dentists usually used gas rather than novocaine. I have no idea what they did while I was under (hey! is that why I'm gay?). I have never had a gay dentist, and I have unusually good luck with the ones I have had. (Nod to whipped: I had one old-fashioned dentist for many years; he didn't believe in using pain-killers for most procedures). Every regular doctor I have had as an adult has been either gay or gay-friendly, and I couldn't make any generalization about their quality. One of the gayest was also a lech, who specialized in treating STDs in young gay men, even though his primary certification was in dermatology.

[Guest OCBeachbody]

Yeah.... I am kinda agree.... every time I go visit my buds in the Weho area I notice how outrageously expensive things are and they are not always better quality.

 

Like one time i wanted a Burger so I tried that place by the City Hall.. and like the price for a small sized burger and fries was like twice as as much any fast food place. Even some of the other places like Gelsons and some of the other cafes there the food is ridiculously expensive and I do feel gouged.

 

I think the only place there we been too that I felt was reasonable was Marix... the Tex Mex place behind Basix.... when I go visit I know to buy food in my area bring into Weho ..lol

[Luv2play]

. One of the gayest was also a lech, who specialized in treating STDs in young gay men, even though his primary certification was in dermatology.

 

My understanding is that for the usual run of STDs dermatology is the best specialization for someone who specializes in treating STDs. HIV treatment is a separate speciality today but was unknown 30 years ago. I have a couple of friends who are dermatologists and they do include treatment of STDs in their practice but of course cater to a variety of other disorders.

 

One thing that I remember one of these guys telling me (both are gay) is that he chose dermatology because he could run a 9 to 5 practice 5 days a week and never had to deal with emergencies! This was a guy who had a very active social life and he didn't want any intrusions on that!

[Guest zipperzone]

I'm a wimp with zero tolerance for pain. Freezing and a numb face is no big deal, it's usually back to normal by the time I get home. I just don't try to drink as it all runs out of the corner of my mouth.

 

I can't even watch that old Dustin Hoffman movie where the mad Russian dentist/spy tortures him by way of drilling his teeth without any pain killer. What's if called...... Marathon Man?