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Shaking that thought off, I pulled up our last order and added a hot lobster roll to the reorder. This truck stopped through here the second and fourth Friday of each month, and Dr. Maloney always bought mine if I stood in line for her. That was no small favor, either. Each roll cost twenty-five dollars.
It was a full twenty minutes before I breezed through the door, bag holding three lobster rolls in hand. The plan was to drop mine off at the desk and take their rolls to them. They could eat and have their meeting at the same time. But what I saw as soon as I stepped through the door stopped me cold.
The two of them were standing at the reception desk, backs to me. They were staring at an unfamiliar tablet in front of them.
“Perfect,” Dr. Maloney said, stepping back and turning to look at me. “Taylor is back. Come take a look at this.”
I pasted a smile on my face and walked toward them, shifting the bag from my right to my left hand. My only solace was that the food would get cold, so they wouldn’t draw this out too long. But I didn’t want to participate in their plans to replace me with a robot.
“Pretend you’re a guest,” Mr. McStay said.
He’d already caught on to our lingo. We didn’t call our customers patients, we called them guests.
“Check in,” Mr. McStay said.
They stepped aside and watched as I hesitantly approached the tablet. Dr. Maloney wore a big smile. She was excited about this. I thought she was on my side.
A welcome screen read, I’m Veronica, your virtual receptionist. Tap here to start.
I tried not to roll my eyes, instead tapping on the screen with my right forefinger. A screen popped up asking me to state or type my name.
“Taylor Gibson,” I said.
That wouldn’t be disruptive at all. I could see it now. I’d be taking a phone call while customers yelled at the screen. Right now, though, a little wheel spun, and finally the text from earlier reappeared on the screen. Please state or type your name.
“She’s not in the database,” Mr. McStay said. “Tell it you’re Jane Doe.”
I glanced at him, trying to ignore how my knees weakened every time I looked into those intense green eyes. Then I said, “Jane Doe.”
Sure enough, a screen popped up that read, Your appointment is at 9:30. Is that correct?
I glanced over at Jonah, who nodded. I tapped Yes, at which point it went to a screen where it asked questions like the ones on the form we had returning patients fill out.
Are you on any new medications?
Are you experiencing a cough?
Has anything about your health situation changed?
Is this your correct address?
I went through all of it, shifting my weight from my right to left foot, craving the lobster rolls in the bag that dangled from my left hand. Finally, I got the message that seemed to make the two people on either side of me happy. The app was happy too.
You’re checked in. Please have a seat.
That was the part of my job this machine would replace. Worse—technology like this was popping up all over Northern California. Pretty soon, I won’t be able to get a job anywhere.
Damn it. I should have gone to college instead of assuming I could always get work doing this.
“It also accepts payment,” Mr. McStay said. “I can show you.”
A whoosh behind me cut him off midsentence. The door to the office had just opened. That meant Dr. Maloney’s noon appointment was here.
“I’m so sorry,” my boss said. “I’m going to have to go. Give me about five minutes alone with that lobster roll, then send my patient back.”
She said that last part quietly enough, but the patient no doubt overheard. This reception area wasn’t that big. I handed Dr. Maloney her cardboard container and turned to smile at our guest.
“If you could sign in on the sheet.” I pointed to the old-fashioned clipboard with paper on top of it, then I turned back to Mr. McStay. “Thank you so much for showing us this. Do you want me to reschedule you for next week sometime?”
