California, Extra Stupid, Ignoring & Inattentive, Money, Pharmacy, USA | Right | September 25, 2017
(I work at a pharmacy where patients are asked to give their signature for insurance purposes, indicating that they have picked up their prescriptions, before they make their payment. Here is the basic conversation, all day, every day, at the pick-up counter.)
Cashier: “Before you swipe your card, can you please press ‘next’ on the screen and sign that you are picking up your medications?”
Customer: “Okay!” *swipes card anyway, then presses ‘next’ and signs*
Cashier: *annoyed* “Okay, you can slide your card now.”
Customer: *angry* “I already slid my card!”
Cashier: *rolls eyes* “Yes, but as I was saying, you need to press ‘next’ and sign first, and then slide your card. If you slide before signing, the terminal will not read your card.”
Customer: “Oh, okay! Well, I hope I don’t get charged twice!”
Cashier: *even more annoyed* “You won’t; trust me.”
(Customer slides card.)
Cashier: “Okay, now I need your signature for the purchase.”
Bad Behavior, Children, Pharmacy, USA, Wild & Unruly | Right | September 21, 2017
(Around the holidays, the tension is really high for people to get their prescriptions on time before going on vacation, so the pharmacy area is packed with close to forty people. I overhear this exchange as I’m ringing up a customer with an especially rude son.)
Me: “That will be $4.50, please.”
Customer: *digs in her purse for her wallet*
Customer’s Son: “Geez, stupid b****. Can’t you hurry up!? I want to go home, now!”
(A lady a few people back snaps her head towards him with a face that is the essence of “Oh, HELL no!”)
Customer’s Son: “God, Mom. Every time we go somewhere, it takes you for-f***ing-ever!”
(The lady a few people back is now breathing very loudly through her nose.)
Customer: “Sweetie, if you wait a minute, we can go get you a burger.”
Customer’s Son: “You bet like hell you are.” *points finger in her face* “You owe me big, woman. I could have been home hours ago out of this s*** heap with you. I’m bored out of my f***ing skull.”
(The lady a few people back is now looking anywhere but at the teenager, shaking her head violently, tapping the side of her purse, and muttering, “Mm-mm, mm-mmmm,” to herself.)
Customer: “Okay, look, honey. We’re done.”
Customer’s Son: “ABOUT D*** TIME, B****!”
(The customer and her son just pass around the corner, when the lady a few people back suddenly swings around, grabs both her teenage sons with one hand, and starts hitting them both with her purse.)
(Some people are staring open-mouthed, others are cheering her on, but I am face-down on the counter, laughing hysterically. When it is the lady’s turn, I am still choking down tears.)
Me: “Yes, ma’am. How can I help you?”
Lady: “You’re laughing, but I’ll do the same to you if I ever hear you talking like that.”
Me: “Yes, ma’am. You’re a great woman.”
Lady: “That’s because I was taught how to respect m
Movies & TV, Pharmacy, USA | Right | September 14, 2017
(I work as a pharmacy technician and, as part of verifying a patient’s identity, I ask them to verify the address we have on file. A man with three rows of skulls tattooed on his forearm is picking up for someone else.)
Me: “Can you verify the address?”
Customer: “[Street number], uh, gosh, it’s the snowman from that Frozen movie!”
(The street was Olaf. I laughed and sold him the prescription.)
Unfortunately, the postcode of where I live doesn’t always show up correctly with all the auto-address fill-in databases in common use. I live on a small private road (let’s call it Minor Avenue) just off a main road (let’s call it Main Road). My address is 6 Minor Avenue, Main Road, Coventry, Postcode. Some databases have it as 6 Main Road, Coventry, which does not exist. Where there should be a building is actually an open plot of land sometimes used as a temporary car park.
When I give my details over the phone, I always double check the person filling in the details has the correct information.
A few months ago, I wasn’t very well, and could foresee me needing a lot of medicine. As such, it was necessary to buy myself a pre-payment prescription card, which I did at the pharmacy. It was them that contacted the company that issues the cards, rather than me, by using their website.
Two weeks later, and I still hadn’t received my card through the post, so I rang up the prepayment people. My card had been dispatched, and when the person I was talking to double checked the details, he saw the problem and burst out laughing.
Him: I see the problem – your card has been sent to the address 6 Coventry. That was all they put!
Pharmacy, Wisconsin | Unfiltered | August 29, 2017
This woman pulls up to the drive through pharmacy and says there is a prescription ready for her. I look up her name and when I find nothing, I then verify her address and date of birth to see if it has been filled at a different location. There is nothing.
Me: “Sorry ma’am, I do not currently see anything ready for you. What were you expecting?”
Woman: “Well, I got a text message saying that I have something ready.”
Me: “I understand that ma’am, however as I don’t see anything in the system it may have been sent in error. We do not have control over the automated system unfortunately so this happens every now and then.”
Woman: “Well I got a text message so I have a prescription here!”
Me: “Ma’am, I currently do not see anything that is ready at any location.”
Woman: (snarling) “Then WHY would I get a text message?! It HAS to mean I have something ready. I’ll even show you!”
Me: “Alright, I’ll gladly take a look at the message for you.”
She thrusts her phone into the drawer we use to hand out prescriptions through the drive-through and looks smug as I pull it back in to look.
Me: “Ma’am, it reads “Prescription due for refill. Reply “REFILL” to submit request.” I do not see your reply.”
Her demeanor changes all of a sudden like she wasn’t just snapping at me. I return her phone.
Woman: “Oh, well, it must happen all the time! (*laughs*) Can I get a refill?”
She didn’t have any refills left on her prescription anyway.
(I work at a pharmacy. A patient is complaining about a spray she had bought a couple of days ago.)
Patient: “It did absolutely not work! It is a nasal spray for sinusitis! Since it contains cortisone, it should work!”
Me: “How do you use it?”
(I ask, since the biggest problem with stuff like this is that you usually use maybe too little, too much, or just plain wrong. She looks at me, a little offended.)
Patient: *sounding annoyed* “Well, I use it as the description says! Two sprays once a day!”
(I think long and hard about how it couldn’t have made any difference for her.)
Patient: “Besides, it gets so messy, and it doesn’t dry quickly at all!”
Me: *can’t wrap my brains about what she meant* “Can you please explain?”
(She took out the spray with a annoyed sigh and held it up against her forehead. She had used the nasal spray on her forehead. I tried my absolute hardest not to laugh and explained as professionally as I could that the spray for sinusitis is to be sprayed in your nose, and not on your forehead.)
Canada, Manitoba, Pharmacy, Winnipeg | Healthy | November 8, 2017
(At our pharmacy we have cashiers who run the till when customers pick up their prescriptions. The cashiers have no pharmacy school education. A woman is picking up an antibiotic for a urinary tract infection.)
Customer: *in a loud voice* “I keep getting these urinary tract infections!”
Cashier: *awkwardly* “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
Customer: *still very loud* “Do you think it’s because I wipe from back to front? They say you shouldn’t but I’ve done it all my life!”
Cashier: *trying very hard to remain professional* “Er… I really couldn’t say.”
(Meanwhile the rest of the staff are trying very hard not to laugh out loud
California, Jerk, Pharmacy, Strangers, USA | Friendly | November 4, 2017
(I’m at the pharmacy in my doctor’s office with my mom. I’m 26, and my mom is in her late 50s. We are waiting for my name to be called, chatting and doing work on our phones, when a man who seems to be in his late 50s to mid 60s approaches us.)
Man: “Excuse me, ladies.” *sounding affronted* “You put those down now!”
Mom: “What?”
Man: “If you’re on those, then you won’t be able to say, ‘Good morning.’”
Me: “Good morning.”
(He nodded and walked off, looking smug. My mom and I shared a look. It irked us that he thought he could make insinuating comments to strangers like that, as if we were being totally frivolous and inattentive to people around us just because we were using our phones. For sure, people use them more than they should, but why does that give you the right to police others’ phone use? It was patronizing and totally weird.)
Health & Body, Jerk, LGBTQ, Pharmacy, UK | Working | November 1, 2017
(I’m picking up a prescription along with a couple of purchases.)
Cashier: “Here you are, sir. Also, would you be interested in our pregnancy tests?”
Me: “Uh, I’m male, so, no.”
Cashier: “Perhaps for your girlfriend?”
Me: “No?”
Cashier: “Come on, now. A strapping young man like yourself? It’s always good to be safe.”
Me: “I’m really not interested. I doubt a pregnancy test would even be effective with me. A condom sounds more reliable.”
Cashier: “Ah, but they can fail!”
Me: “It’s still a no.”
Cashier: *suddenly furious* “WELL, WHY NOT?”
Me: “Because I think it’s doubtful my boyfriend will come up to me and say he might be pregnant.”
Cashier: *pauses* “Oh, well, you didn’t have to be so rude!”
(After I paid and before the receipt printed, the cashier just walked away. The kicker: I go there every year for gay sexual health checkups. He actually knows my boyfriend and me well, and he has always known that I’m gay.)
(We have a giant inflatable ghost on display for Halloween. It doesn’t quite sit right and tends to lean to the side, so we frequently adjust it.)
Coworker: “[My name]! The ghost is falling again.”
Me: “Okay…”
(We spend about five minutes fiddling with it, until we get it to sit up right.)
Coworker: “Oh, no. His ascot got flipped backwards.”
(We proceed to grab boxes and stick-like things, trying to flip the ascot back around to no avail.)
Me: “OH! I’ve got it!”
(I run away with no explanation and return with a toy extendable lightsaber. I make the “vwing” noise and I flick it and extend the lightsaber. I succeed in straightening the ghost’s tie on the first attempt.)
Coworker: “…You just fixed the ascot of an inflatable ghost with a lightsaber.”
Bizarre, Extra Stupid, Pharmacy, USA | Working | October 28, 2017
(We have just switched to my husband’s insurance. He provides our information to HR, and it’s HR that actually provides it to the insurance company. I have a monthly-renewing prescription for birth control and this is the first time trying to pick it up under the new insurance.)
Me: “Hi, I’m [My Name] here to pick up a prescription.”
Pharmacist: *looks at computer* “Okay. Can I get you to verify the address for me?”
Me: “It’s [address].”
Pharmacist: “Um… I’ll go ahead and give it to you today, since I see you all the time, but you need to contact your insurance, ASAP. They listed your date of birth as [correct month and day], 2016.”
(I have no idea how his HR managed to list me as his spouse at less than one year old.)
California, Pharmacy, USA | Healthy | October 26, 2017
(I work in a pharmacy as an intern, and on the weekends, we only have one pharmacist on duty. It is company policy that employees have to take their unpaid lunch by the fifth hour on the clock. This happens when our pharmacist is out to lunch.)
Tech: “Hello there. Are you picking up or dropping off?”
Patient: “Picking up.”
Tech: “I’m sorry, but our pharmacist is on lunch. We can’t sell any prescriptions without a pharmacist here.”
Patient: “Why the h*** not?!”
Tech: “I’m sorry, but it is against the law for us to do that.”
Patient: “Just give it to me! I drove all the way here!”
Tech: “I can’t; it’s against the law, and we have to have a pharmacist here.”
Patient: “There should always be a pharmacist here; it’s a pharmacy! Why the h*** aren’t they here?!”
Tech: “She’s on her lunch right now. She’ll be back at 1:30, but I can’t do anything until then.”
Patient: “I want to talk to a manager!”
Tech: *calls manager*
Manager: “I’m sorry, ma’am, but we can’t do anything until the pharmacist comes back from lunch. She has to take her lunch, too.”
Patient: “I’m complaining to corporate. What is their number? This is ridiculous!”
Manager: “It’s [number].”
(The patient storms off as the manager just shrugs.)
Manager: “Call all you want. What are they gonna do? Fire me for following the law?”
Pennsylvania, Pharmacy, Pittsburgh, USA | Healthy | October 25, 2017
(I am a pharmacy technician, not qualified to recommend drugs or dispense advice. Any questions about actual medicine, I am required to pass off to a pharmacist, even if I think I know the answer.)
Me: “Hello, how may I help you?”
Customer: *mumbling* “Um, I think I—” *mumbles* “—contact with bleach…”
Me: “I’m sorry, what? Could you repeat that?”
Customer: “I think I might have swallowed some bleach and was wondering if the pharmacist could recommend anything.”
Me: *trying not to look alarmed* “Well, if I were you, I would call the Poison Control Center, but I’ll check with the pharmacist.”
(I go back to the counter where the pharmacist is working.)
Me: “This guy says he might have ingested bleach and wants to know if you can recommend anything. I told him he should call the Poison Control Center.”
Pharmacist: “Yeah, that’s about it.”
(I go up to the front counter and repeat this advice to the customer.)
Customer: “Well, I drank some fluids and I’m feeling better now. I had some [soda], and some water, and some lemonade. My chest was hurting before but now it’s better. Do you know if bleach can make your chest hurt?”
Me: “Um… probably. If you swallowed bleach, it could hurt on the way down. You should probably call the Poison Control Center.”
Customer: “Eh, maybe I’ll call them tomorrow. If I’m not feeling better then, I can go to the emergency room, too.”
Me: “I would call them tonight if I were you, just to be safe. Do you want their number?”
(I write it down on the nearest piece of paper and hand it to him.)
Customer: “Yeah, thanks. I might call them tomorrow.”
(He wanders away, but comes back later. My coworker is an intern, studying to become a pharmacist, and gets to the counter first. I overhear their conversation.)
Customer: “I was wondering about water pills. What do they do?”
Coworker: “Um, they make you urinate.”
Customer: “Can I get some of those?”
Coworker: *realizing why he’s asking* “They don’t flush out your system; they’re used to lower blood pressure. And you would need a prescription.”
Customer: “Can I get one of those?”
Coworker: *bewildered* “We don’t give prescriptions here; we just fill them. You would need to go to a doctor.”
(The customer wanders away, apparently still confused about a lot of things.)
Me: “I hope he’s going to be okay.”
Pharmacist: “If he had really swallowed bleach, his throat would be burned. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but there’s nothing else we can do.”
I work as a cashier in a somewhat conservative town. I often dye my hair, sometimes even brighter colors like blue and green and there are no rules against it at my job. As always when working retail, people will find anything they can to be mean about and I get picked on a lot because I dye my hair. I don’t have any noticeable tattoos or wild piercings but I do enjoy having the freedom to dye my hair different colors. One day was particularly brutal and after kindly explaining to customers that my hair choice wasn’t permanent and that there are no company regulations against it, a man came up to purchase an item with a young boy and immediately start to harass me about my hair. “HAHAHA, is it Halloween!” he said to me (it was definitely March and he knew it wasn’t anywhere near Halloween.) After already having a hard day, I was at the end of my rope and explained to him about there being no company policy against it and told him that bullying people for their looks while having a young child with them was a very bad precedent and that he should be ashamed of himself for being so rude. He turned red and stammered and got out of the store as fast as he could.
Extra Stupid, Jerk, Money, Pennsylvania, Pharmacy, USA | Right | October 17, 2017
(Our chain has implemented a “roundup” feature; customers are asked if they want to round their total up to the nearest dollar, with the extra cents being donated to a children’s charity. The outcome means that it is impossible for the donation to ever be more than 99 cents.)
Customer: “What’s this prompt asking me?”
Me: “It’s asking if you want to round the total of your purchase up to the next dollar, and donate the extra to charity.”
(The customer hits yes before proceeding with her question.)
Customer: “Oh, now I remember. I think I donated two or three dollars with it the last time I was here. How much is it this time?”
Me: “Less than a dollar, ma’am.”
(The transaction proceeds normally, until we finally reach the end.)
Me: “All right, your total is $28.00.”
Customer: “It’s how much? Oh, no. That can’t be right!”
(She begins rummaging around in her wallet, still thinking aloud.)
Customer: “I’m sure I added everything up correctly, but I didn’t bring enough for that with me… Wait, I know! It was that donation! How much did you say it was?”
Me: “Less than a dollar?”
Customer: “Well, take it off. I’m sorry; I didn’t realize it was going to be so much.”
(I go ahead and cancel it, displaying her new total without the rounding.)
Me: “All right, your total is… $27.95, ma’am.”
(The customer promptly pulled out $28 in cash, and I handed her the nickel in change.)
At The Checkout, Extra Stupid, Jerk, Pennsylvania, Pharmacy, Sarcasm, USA | Right | October 12, 2017
(I’m more than halfway through a seven-hour shift, running on five hours of sleep, after a 17-hour day between school and work the previous day. I am supposed to have a cashier to run register, but the cashier hasn’t shown up for any of his shifts this week and we haven’t gotten a hold of him at all, so I am running the front end of the store myself for the entire time. This is right before a snowstorm, so we are unusually busy for a weekend morning. By the time this customer comes up, I am tired, frazzled from trying to help so many different customers at once, almost out of patience, and have more than fulfilled my daily requirement of idiocy. A lady walks up to my register and places a bag of [Store] brand candy and a package of [Popular Brand] Easter marshmallows.)
Customer: “Both of these items are on sale, two for three dollars. They should ring up that price. Make sure they ring up that price.”
Me: “Ma’am, I don’t believe they will ring up like that; these are two different brands, so they are two different sales. They don’t—”
Customer: “I don’t care if they are two different brands! They should ring up two-for-three!”
Me: “Let me ring them up and see how they ring up, but I’m just letting you know that is not typically how the sales work.”
(I ring up the items and run the customer’s store card.)
Me: “It looks like they both ran up at $1.59 each, so it’s close to the two-for-three deal.”
Customer: *slams hands on counter* “They should be two-for-three! What kind of store doesn’t honor their sales?”
Me: “Ma’am, we do honor our sales; however, the sale tags do say that the single purchase price is more than if you buy two and—”
Customer: “I have two!”
Me: “Yes, but they are two different brands. I know it can be confusing, and we get this sometimes with makeup. Like if [Makeup Brand #1 ] and [Makeup Brand #2 ] are both on sale, buy one get one half off, and you bought an eyeshadow from both, would you expect to get one of them half off?”
Customer: *nods emphatically* “Yes!”
Me: “Okay. What if there is that same sale on hair dye and [brand] macaroni and cheese? Would you expect to get one of them half off?”
Customer: “Of course!”
(By this time there are about five people behind her that are starting to get impatient. After a couple more tries of explaining it to her…)
Me: “That, unfortunately, is not how the system works. Would you still like both of the products?”
Customer: *throws card at me* “Yes, fine, whatever. And don’t tell me how the system works! I’ve been in the system for fifty years! I know how the system works.”
Me: “Wow, you must have been a loyal customer from the start! The company has only recently celebrated our 50th anniversary! We appreciate your loyalty!” *slight sarcasm*
(She finally grabbed her bags and left, and I was able to greet the next customer. But not before hitting my head against the wall first.)
New York, Pharmacy, Retail, USA | Unfiltered | October 11, 2017
(Certain Allergy medicines have to be purchased back in the pharmacy due to New York State law. You can get a script for them, but most people just buy it over the counter. At this time, Allegra-D 24 hr is completely unavailable.)
Customer: “I need to get Allegra-D 24-hour for my daughter.”
Cashier: “I’m sorry, but it’s currently unavailable right now. All we have is the 12 hour.”
Customer: “Really? You don’t have any?”
Cashier: “Yes. I’m sorry.”
Customer: “What is my daughter going to do? She needs it!”
(The Cashier shrugs sympathetically. The customer starts to walk away, but turns around.)
Customer: “If I call her doctor and get a script for it, will you have the Allegra-D ready for her then?”
California, Pharmacy, USA | Unfiltered | October 10, 2017
(I am around eight months pregnant, well into my last trimester and am dealing with a bad cold. Needless to say, I am miserable. I go to my doctor and she prescribes me pseudo-ephedrine. I go downstairs with my husband to the pharmacy. I give my prescription to the pharmacist.)
Pharmacist: “I can’t give this to you.”
Me: “Why?”
Pharmacist: “Because you are pregnant.”
Me: “But the doctor prescribed it to me. I am sick and can’t get any relief from [popular brand].”
Pharmacist: “I am sorry but I can’t give you something that might cause you to miscarry.”
(My husband at this point is getting fed up and goes upstairs to talk with the doctor. I continue to argue with the pharmacist who keeps on insisting the doctor didn’t give me the right prescription. He pulls down this War and Peace book of pharmaceuticals. He flips to the section showing the medication we have been arguing about.)
Pharmacist: “See, read right here.”
(He helps another customer while I read the section. When he gets finished, I flag him over.)
Me: “It says right here that it is dangerous for woman who are in the first trimester, not their third which I am in. Please, can I have my medication?”
(He reads the book and agrees with me.)
Pharmacist: “Sorry about that, I didn’t read this section. I’ll call you up when it is ready.”
Me: “Thank you.”
(I go and sit down to wait for it and my husband who has yet to come back from talking with the doctor. He finally hands me my prescription and I sit down to wait for my husband. My son is seven now but I still remember that pharmacist who had good intentions but didn’t take into account that his timing was way off and that the doctor approved prescription.
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