During my freshman year in high school, my science teacher assigned us to interview people in the community about how they use science in their careers. Although I don’t remember most of the people I spoke with, I can tell you that I spent meaningful time with a local community pharmacist who changed my life.
What I saw was a man who loved his career and truly cared for his patients. In an instant, I knew that I wanted to become a pharmacist, and I never wavered from that goal throughout high school.
Knowing what you want to be when you grow up at age 14 is unusual, but it is very liberating. I simply had to work backwards to figure out how to achieve my goal of becoming a pharmacist.
After high school, I chose to attend Ohio Northern University (ONU) because it had a unique pharmacy program. Rather than attending college for 2 years and then applying to the pharmacy program, ONU students were admitted to the College of Pharmacy from day one.
Although it was expensive, being in pharmacy school from day one and avoiding the risk of rejection made it worthwhile for me.
In college, I spent a lot of time in the library. Although the classwork was difficult, I did well with one exception: organic chemistry.
I did fail organic chemistry—a notorious “weed out” course—but I successfully retook the class over the summer and graduated on time with the rest of my classmates. Failing a course is a difficult stumbling block, but I stood strong and persevered.
Today, I’m thankful for the wonderful pharmacy profession for so many reasons.
First, I’m thankful that community pharmacists are the health care professionals most accessible to the public. If my local pharmacist wasn’t accessible to me, then I likely would have taken a different career path.
Second, I’m proud of the work we pharmacists do, the diversity of our career options, and the relationships we share with our patients and fellow health care providers.
Pharmacy is a profession that makes a real difference in people’s lives. It certainly has made all the difference in mine.
Pharmacy | Ontario, Canada | Working | November 22, 2012
(I’ve just come from the emergency department of the hospital, with instructions to fill two prescriptions immediately. I’m obviously sick and having difficulty breathing. It’s about 9:30 PM, which is 30 minutes before closing.)
Me: “I have a severe corn allergy, so can you please double-check the ingredients on those before filling them?”
Pharmacist: “No.”
Me: “…Pardon? ”
Pharmacist: “Almost all medications are made with corn starch, you know. I don’t think I can fill them.”
Me: “My understanding is that very few prescriptions meds have corn in the them. Can you check them please?”
Pharmacist: “No. I don’t have the ingredients.”
Me: “Aren’t they on the bottle?”
Pharmacist: “No.”
Me: “Can you look them up somewhere? Online or in a compendium?”
Pharmacist: “No.”
Me: “I really need these medications immediately.”
Pharmacist: *sighs* I guess I could leave them for someone tomorrow, and they could call the company.”
Me: “I need them tonight. I’m not sure what to do.”
Pharmacist: “I’m sure you’ll be fine. There’s only a little bit of corn starch in a pill.”
My Husband: “NO! Didn’t you hear her? She’s ALLERGIC!”
Pharmacist: “Well, there’s nothing I can do tonight. I guess I can keep these until tomorrow and someone else will deal with it.” *wanders off*
(I called another pharmacy in the same chain, and they were able to check the ingredients immediately. We retrieved my prescriptions from the unhelpful pharmacist, and my husband made a complaint the next day. It turned out he was a temp and was fired
(I work at a pharmacy, both as a tech and at the till when necessary. It is a Sunday, so the pharmacy is not heavily staffed. The sole customer waiting is a man, late 20s to early 30s, wearing a pink button-up shirt.)
Me: “Hello, sir. How can I help you?”
Pink Guy: “Six for [Name].”
(I search the current container and find five prescriptions. It’s not uncommon for a prescription to be put in adjacent containers if the proper one is too full, which this one likely was. I search the other containers but don’t find anything.)
Me: “One sec, I have to check the computer.”
(I check the computer. I do verify he has six prescriptions to pick up.)
Me: “Sorry about that. Can I verify the date of birth, please?”
Pink Guy: “What is this? You want my date of birth now?”
Me: “Yes sir, to verify the prescription.”
Pink Guy: “You guys never asked for that before.”
(I am roughly two years’ tenure in the pharmacy, and that has been a part of policy since day one.)
Me: “If I could just verify the date of birth to make sure there isn’t another person with the same name?”
Pink Guy: “It’s not very likely you’d have two people with the same exact name. I suppose you want me to verify my social security number in case someone has both my name and my birthday?”
(We actually do have two people with the same name and birthday.)
Me: “Not necessarily. I would go by address or phone number first.”
Pink Guy: “I’m not comfortable giving you my date of birth.”
Me: “I already have a date of birth here. I just need you to verify at least the month and the day.”
Pink Guy: *crossing his arms* “Fine. But just know that you’ve never asked me for this before and I’ve been coming here for years. It’s [birthday].”
Me: “Thank you, sir.” *check each of the prescriptions* “Okay. And I have all six prescriptions.”
Pink Guy: “Six?”
Me: “Yes, sir, six prescriptions.”
Pink Guy: “Not seven?”
Me: “Was there more?”
Pink Guy: “There should be one more.”
Me: “Okay, let me check the computer.”
(I go back to the computer, and re-enter him just to refresh the data. I verify each prescription that I have and make sure he doesn’t have another one that he usually refilled; none pop out.)
Me: “I only have six prescriptions for you, sir.”
Pink Guy: *with an inflection implying I’m a moron* “And there aren’t any for my wife?”
Me: “Oh, I see. It’s under another name.” *without asking him, I query by address, and find his wife. I see that she does have a pending prescription, but there’s a catch* “Did you call it in today?”
Pink Guy: “Yeah, I called it in this morning. It said it’d be ready tomorrow but I figured you guys would have it ready by now.”
Me: *explaining casually* “Well, not exactly. You see, when you call it in it actually gets picked up by an outside pharmacy and they fill it and ship it to us next-day. You did it through the automated system, right?”
Pink Guy: “Well, yeah. I’ve done it before and you guys had it ready.”
Me: “Well… I’m not sure about that time, but I do know the automated system tells you when the pickup is and then asks if you want it earlier; if you select that you want it earlier it sends it to us. Maybe that just didn’t go through this time.”
Pink Guy: “No, I just assumed you’d have it ready by now.”
(Well, at least he’s honest.)
Me: “Well, I’m sorry but we don’t. But I can pull it and we can fill it here. The pharmacist is out to lunch, but when he gets back in about ten minutes he’ll fill it right away. Do you have some shopping you could do or would you like to wait in the waiting area?”
(The pharmacist is behind the counter, but I’m not going to bother him unless I absolutely have to.)
Pink Guy: “No! I don’t have time for all of this crap! If you guys aren’t ready I’ll just waste my time and gas and get it tomorrow! I’m in a hurry!”
Me: “I’m sorry about that, sir.”
(I start scanning and bagging the prescriptions. He reaches across the counter at me to tear the bag away from me.)
Me: “Excuse me, just a sec, sir. I need you to verify the information on the screen.”
Pink Guy: “I thought you already verified everything. That’s why I gave you my date of birth!”
Me: “I need you to verify everything on the screen. Make sure all of the information is correct and hit ‘next’ in the lower-right of the screen.”
(Without looking at the screen, he hits the ‘back’ button at the lower-left.)
Me: *re-initializing the verification phase* “It’s the ‘next’ button on the lower-right, sir.”
(Second time’s the charm. He still doesn’t look at the screen.)
Me: “And if you could sign to verify you’ve picked up the prescriptions.”
Pink Guy: *mutters a signing-my-life-away cliche* “There. Are we done?” *extends his hand, expectantly*
Me: “Not quite. Your total comes to $20.”
Pink Guy: “Are you kidding me!? You make me go through all that and then you expect me to fork over $20? I have insurance! It covers everything! You must not have run it through, you idiots. Go check your little computer and you’ll see. I have never had to pay anything for my meds!”
(I go to the computer and refresh his information.)
Me: “It shows here we ran it through [Insurance]. They paid [amount] toward the prescription, leaving you with a co-pay of $20. The last time you got it, on [date], they paid [amount minus $20] and therefore you had a $40 co-pay. And you’ve had a $40 co-pay the last 3 times you picked this medication up.”
Pink Guy: “This is ridiculous! Whatever.” *pulls out his checkbook* “Can I get $100 cash-back?”
Me: “No, sir, the limit is $50. And, I’m sorry, but I don’t have enough in my till.”
Pink Guy: “Well… can’t you get more?”
Me: “I could, but it’d be faster for you if you just got a bottle of water and get cash-back up at the front.”
Pink Guy: *standing up defiantly* “I’m not making two transactions. I’ll wait.”
Me: “Okay. Your total is $70, and the date is [date].”
Pink Guy: “You said it was $20 before!”
Me: “Right. $20, plus $50 cash-back is $70.”
(He proceeds to write his check.)
Pink Guy: “Can I have my cash-back?”
Me: “I need to run the check first.”
(With a great show of impatience and contempt he tears the check out and hands it to me. It’s policy to verify the check by hand before running it through the feeder. Before even turning it my direction, I see he hasn’t signed it.)
Me: “Could you please sign the check?”
(He clicks his pen and makes a very dramatic and flourish display of signing the check.)
Me: “Thank you.” *I start to validate the check, the date is wrong by a few days* “I’m going to change it to today’s date and initial it, okay?”
Pink Guy: “Fine, whatever.”
(I check everything, saving the amount for last since I know it’s cash-back and I want to verify they match properly. But… there’s a problem.
Me: “Sir, I’m afraid I’ll need you to write a new check.”
Pink Guy: “What the he-why!?”
Me: “Because. You wrote the amount for $120, but the limit for cash-back is $50, and that’s how much I asked for.”
Pink Guy: “Well here!” *takes the check from me, scribbles all over it, and writes the new amounts in as tiny as he can above the errata* “There. You need my driver’s license?”
Me: “No, sir, I need you to write a new check. This one is illegible and I can’t accept it into my till.”
Pink Guy: “Screw you! Fine, forget the cash-back. I’ll just pay with my card.”
(He pulls the card out, and swipes it. But it’s too fast, I have to hit a button first.)
Me: “Okay, your card is ready to swipe.”
Pink Guy: “I already swiped it.”
Me: “I wasn’t ready in time, sorry. I have to hit a button for it to take. It’s ready now, though.”
Pink Guy: “The machine said it was ready!”
Me: “That’s the default screen. It always says that. I know it’s irritating. I wish they’d change it.”
(He swipes his card again, and poises with his pen. I expect him to start with the card transaction, but notice he’s still standing there after a second.)
Pink Guy: “Well?”
(I look at my screen, and realize it hasn’t taken the card still. I clear it and prime it again.)
Me: “Try it again, please?”
Pink Guy: “No! You’ll charge me twice!”
Me: “It won’t charge you twice. I promise. It only charges when you approve the amount and sign.”
Pink Guy: “If it charges me twice I’ll get you fired.”
Me: “I promise. It won’t charge you twice.”
(He poises with the card and practically stares me down as if judging the worth of my soul as he slides the card through. It’s then I notice the magnet strip is in his fingers.)
Me: “May I see your card, sir?”
Pink Guy: *apparently giving up, he responds less angrily than I expected* “Take it.”
(I take the card and swipe it through the correct way, setting it on the counter. Once again he poises with the pen, waiting for the prompt, and again, I notice it’s taking him a tad longer than other people. I look at the screen just as he comments.)
Pink Guy: “It’s still not doing anything.”
(I pick up his card, and take in a breath. It’s a ditch effort, but I enter the card number manually. No dice. I hand his card back.)
Me: “I’m sorry sir, your card won’t go through. Do you have another method of payment?” (It has been rejected.)
Pink Guy: “What the h***!” *literally throws the card at me, hitting my chest, and I catch it* “That’s a new f****** card! Of course it’ll take! Your computer is stupid!”
Me: “I’m sorry, sir.”
(He leaves, and I continue the day setting any emotions aside to deal with for later. I put his credit card in with one of the scripts and make a note of it for whoever has to handle it. Later that week, the pharmacist, who had been sitting behind the counter that whole time, talks to me during a slow hour.)
Pharmacist: “Hey, [My Name], you remember Mr. [Pink Guy] from the other day?”
Me: “Yeah, what about him?”
Pharmacist: “His wife came by the next day. I did the transaction. She picked up all seven scripts. She didn’t say anything about the price. Paid with a perfect check, and got the $50 cash-back.”
Me: “So, she didn’t give you any trouble?”
Pharmacist: “No, not at all.”
Me: “Well, good. At least that whole thing happened on a slow day.”
Pharmacist: “Yeah. Anyway, here.” *takes a Barnes & Noble gift card from his smock pocket and sets it on the counter* “Consider this an apology from Mr. [Pink Guy].”
Pharmacy | Portland, OR, USA | Right | January 29, 2013
(I’m at a chain company pharmacy/mini-stores getting a bottle of water. As I pass by the pharmacy, I witness an exchange between a very burly, muscular customer and a short, skinny female clerk.)
Customer: “I need to refill my prescription.”
Clerk: “Well, I’m sorry, but according to our systems, you have no refills left. You’ll need to contact your doctor and get a new prescription.”
Customer: “What?! I want my pills. Give me my pills!”
(The exchange continues for a while, with the customer getting more and more agitated. The clerk appears to be frightened and close to tears. The commotion is drawing the attention of the people around.)
Customer: “You dumb b****, are you f***ing stupid? Give me my pills or there will be a problem.”
(At this point, I step between him and the clerk behind the counter.)
Me: “Look buddy, she already said that she’s not giving you pills and told you what to do. So you better just listen to her, leave, and stop making an a** of yourself.”
(For a moment he looks like he is going to hit me, then just stomps away swearing under his breath.)
Me: *to the clerk* “I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”
Clerk: “It’s alright. Thank you for that. Here, that water is on me, okay?”
(I am at the cashier, ringing up a long line of people. I notice when customers walk in, they suddenly skirt around the theft detectors. A lady approaches the counter.)
Lady: “There is a big spider in the entrance!”
(Note: I don’t want to leave the counter because of the enormous line.)
Me: “Okay, cool.”
Lady: “You have to kill it. You work here.”
Me: “It’s not hurting anyone.”
(The lady’s husband chimes in.)
Husband: “Kill it, she’s right!”
(Everyone in the line seems to agree with the lady and her husband.)
Me: “Okay, I’ll just move it outside.”
Husband: “No, kill it!”
Me: “No, it wont do any harm out there in the parking lot.”
(I move the spider outside.)
Lady: “I can’t take it anymore!”
Me: “Can’t take what?”
(Suddenly, the lady grabs a basket made for carrying products outside and finds the spider. She starts violently smashing the red basket on the spider.)
Lady: “Why is it not dying?!”
(It turns out the basket has little legs on the bottom, preventing it from making contact with the spider. She eventually figures this out and kills it, but not before it charges her one last time and causes her to flip out!)
Pharmacy | Oakland County, MI, USA | Right | January 16, 2013
(I am a customer in this pharmacy store late at night. As I walk up to the counter, a male customer is loudly complaining to a male cashier about ‘the gays.’ Being a lesbian, I’m gathering up the courage to say something when the following happens.)
Male Customer: “The gays keep trying to turn everyone!”
Male Cashier: “It must be rough.”
Male Customer: “How do you mean?”
Male Cashier: “I have a handful of gay friends, and no matter how much time I’ve spent with them, I’ve never wanted to have sex with other dudes. I’m just saying it must be rough to have such a tenuous hold on your sexuality that you’re always worried about being turned by the slightest contact. I feel for you.”
(It takes a moment, but the male customer realizes what the male cashier is saying.)
Male Customer: “…Hey, f*** you, buddy!”
Male Cashier: “You want to f*** me? Oh god, it’s happening now! There must be a gay in the store! Run!”
Customer: *screaming* “Go to h***!”
(The customer then runs out of the store. As I put my stuff up on the counter, the manager runs up from one of the aisles.)
Manager: “What the h*** was that?”
Cashier: “Oh, I’m probably just getting a customer complaint in the morning. Totally worth it… I’ll explain later.” *to me* “Sorry about all that. How are you tonight?”
Me: “If I was straight, I would totally be giving you my number right now.”
Pharmacy | Jersey City, NJ, USA | Working | January 9, 2013
(About three months prior, we hired some new help since we were severely understaffed at our pharmacy. Two of the workers are doing very well. One, on the other hand, is not. Today, it’s a bit busier than normal, and unfortunately the not-so-good worker is the only one I have to back me up on the register. Note: In October we switched our rewards cards.)
Coworker: “Do you have [Rewards Card]?”
Customer: “Yes, it’s right here.” *pulls out our current rewards card*
Coworker: “Sorry, but we have a new one now that we switched to.”
Customer: “I was told this is the new one.”
Coworker: “Yeah, but we have a newer new card.”
Customer: “Well, what’s going to happen to my points?”
Coworker: “I can switch you, but I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Customer: “Well, this is stupid! Why do you keep changing it up?!”
(By this point, I finish cashing out my own customer and speak up.)
Me: *to the customer* “Ma’am, I can assure you, the card you’re holding is our current rewards card. I have no idea why he’s lying to you.” *to my coworker* “For God’s sake, don’t do that.”
(My coworker shuts up for the rest of the transaction. After all the customers are cashed out and gone, I confront him.)
Me: “You cannot do that to the customers! What the h*** are you thinking?”
Coworker: “Man, I been doing that, and I’m gonna keep doing it! It’s what keeps me sane here!”
Pharmacy | Boston, MA, USA | Learning | March 12, 2013
(I work as a pharmacy tech at a chain pharmacy. I am also currently in pharmacy school and will be a pharmacist one day.)
Customer: “You should be ashamed of yourself!”
Me: “I’m sorry. Can I help you with something?”
Customer: “No! I refuse to be helped by a high school dropout! You should be ashamed of yourself for working where children can see you! You are going to make them think that it is okay to not have an education!”
Me: “Ma’am, I am not a high school dropout. I have a high school diploma and I am currently in pharmacy school working towards a Doctor of Pharmacy. I am going to be a pharmacist one day.”
Customer: “Stop lying! I have never heard of a pharmacist before. You are a high school dropout!”
Manager: “Can I help you?”
Customer: “Yes! Your employee is lying to me! She says she is going to be a pharmacist! That job doesn’t exist!”
(The manager looks at our pharmacist who is near tears from laughing so hard.)
Manager: “Ma’am, see the man over there? He’s the one who filled your prescription. He is a pharmacist.”
Customer: “No he isn’t! He just counts pills! You don’t need school for that!”
(I am buying some make-up for myself. I have oily skin and very mild acne, so my dermatologist has recommended using powder foundations. I’m a student working part-time so I can’t afford the high range stuff, but I still buy reliable branded products.)
Cashier: “Are you wearing this now?” *screws up her nose at my powder*
Me: “Um yeah, I always get that one.”
Cashier: “Well, you should get [famous brand] matte foundation instead. We’ve got it for like $80. I bought some myself.”
Me: “Oh thanks, but I can’t really afford it! I like this powder because I just want some light coverage for blemishes and it looks quite natural. And it’s on special for $38, which sounds good to me!”
Cashier: “Ugh, but you’re so pale, and I can see you’ve got some gross little pimples by your chin! This stuff is way better. See?”
(The cashier points at her own face. True, she doesn’t seem to have any acne showing, but she hasn’t blended it to her neck and consequently looks like she is wearing a mask. On top of this, she seems to have applied several layers of the stuff and a load of bronzer, so the makeup resembles orange cake mix, set off nicely with false eyelashes and bright blue eyeshadow.)
Me: “Oh, yeah it is quite nice… but I think I’ll stick with my powder.”
Cashier: “Whatever…” *rolls eyes* “You’ll find the cheap tanning sprays over in the corner!”
Pharmacy | New York, NY, USA | Working | February 17, 2013
(I am a college student and picking up my inhaler from a local pharmacy. I’ve just gotten a new prescription insurance card and need to have the information changed. Since I’m under my parents’ insurance, the card is in my father’s name.)
Me: “I’d like to pick up my prescription and update my insurance.”
(I hand the pharmacy tech the insurance card.)
Tech: “This is under a guy’s name. You’re a girl.”
Me: “Yes, that’s my father’s name. I’m included under his insurance.”
Tech: “So, you’re under your husband’s insurance. Let me see if I can update that.”
Me: “Father, not husband.”
Tech: “What’s your husband’s date of birth?”
Me: “That’s my father, not my husband, and it’s [date].”
Tech: “Wow! You look young to be married to someone that old.”
Me: “For the third time, I am under my father’s insurance. I’m not married.”
Tech: “Oh. Okay. Well, I need to show this to the pharmacist on duty.”
(She walks over to the pharmacist, who is still within my earshot.)
Tech: “Hey, this girl is under her husband’s insurance and I need help updating her info…”
(I am counseling a customer who is receiving a prescription for her child’s strep throat. As she’s signing for the prescription, I give her directions on the medication.)
Me: “It needs to be shaken well.”
(All of a sudden, she starts shaking the electronic pen that is attached to the signature pad. After a moment she stops.)
Customer: “You meant shake the medicine, didn’t you?”
Me: “Thank you for calling the pharmacy. How may I help you?
Customer: “Hi, my fiancè’s mother is incompetent, and I am going to be helping out with her medicines.”
(When she says ‘incompetent,’ I am thinking she might want to transfer the woman’s meds to our pharmacy, has a question about her drugs, or something of the sort.)
Me: “Okay, what can I help you with?”
Customer: “Since she is incompetent, I think she is going to need some kind of diaper or underwear. So, what do y’all sell there?”
(I’m a 25-year-old Brony. I use a Brony lanyard with several Pony buttons on it to wear my name tag, and a wallet that has a short leather Rainbow Dash tail sticking out of my back pocket. I also have looks that some consider girly, and am often confused for a girl. I am serving a male customer who appears to be around my age.)
Customer: “Hi… I’m here to pick up my Dad’s prescriptions.”
Me: “Certainly, I just need the name and date of birth.”
Customer: “So, when do you get off?”
Me: “Uh… why?”
Customer: “Well, I was wondering if you might want to go out for drinks a little later.”
Me: “Whoa, buddy, stop right there. I’m probably not your type, anyway, since I’m a guy.”
Customer: “Oh, yeah, I can tell. I like your wallet by the way.”
Me: “Thanks. I’m a Brony, but, uh… I don’t really swing that way, man. I have a girlfriend; she actually gave me the bracelet as a gift.”
(I take out my wallet, and show him the picture of us in the front.)
Customer: “Oh! That’s a cute picture. That’s too bad.”
Me: “No big deal, though. I’m actually kind of flattered; you’re the first guy to hit on me thinking I’m a guy. Usually it’s some pervert that thinks I’m a girl. It’s usually one of those ‘anything that moves and has boobs’ types.”
Customer: “Hah! No way! Have a good one. Gimme a brohoof, and tell your girlfriend she’s lucky.”
(We brohoof, and he leaves. Thank Celestia for people who can take ‘no’ for an answer!)
(When we get truck, they normally try and schedule it so at least one male is working to help, since the boxes are stacked up very high and often quite heavy. On this particular day however it’s me and the store manager who is notoriously lazy. I’m only five feet tall and he’s well over six feet.)
Store Manager: “[My name], I need you to start sorting the totes.”
Me: “I’m going to need some help.”
Store Manager: “There’s no reason you can’t do it!”
Me: “So, you think I should be able to scale the ladder, lift a bulky 35 pound tote and make my way safely back down?”
Store Manager: “Yes, why is that so hard?”
Me: “It’s not safe.”
Store Manager: “I don’t care how you do it. Just get it done!”
(He stalks off while I try and figure out how to do this. One of our pharmacy techs cuts through the backroom and sees me; I’m visibly upset at this point.)
Pharmacy Tech: “Hey, what are you doing?”
Me: “[Store manager] left me alone to try and get all these totes down.”
Pharmacy Tech: “Right, like that’s totally safe.”
Me: “He doesn’t care. I’m just trying to figure out the best way to do it to avoid not only hurting myself, but breaking anything.”
Pharmacy Tech: “Yeah, hang on…”
(He goes back into the pharmacy before reappearing and shucking his vest.)
Pharmacy Tech: “We’re slow, and like h*** I’m letting you do this by yourself. The pharmacist told me to go ahead and help you.”
Me: “Won’t you get in trouble?”
Pharmacy Tech: “I’d like to see him try and get me in trouble.”
(The tech helps me get the down so I can more easily sort the totes. After we’ve finished, the store manager shows back up.)
Store Manager: “I can’t believe you’ve only gotten this much done!”
Me: “Well, maybe if you were actually halfway competent you would have realized that you were supposed to be helping me! I’m one person, what exactly have you been doing all this time? Sit around on your butt texting in the office, most likely!”
Store Manager: “You can’t talk to me that way! I’m your boss!”
Me: “Not anymore!”
(I threw my name tag at him and walked out. Several other members of management called to try and get me to come back, but I refused. I found a job at another pharmacy and shortly later, my pharmacy tech buddy joined me there!)
Customer #1 : “I’m picking up a script for [name].”
(I proceed to look it up. However, the system alerts me that we do not have anything ready.)
Me: “I don’t see that we have anything ready for you, ma’am.”
Customer #1 : “What do you mean, you don’t have anything! They called two days ago!”
Me: “I apologize, ma’am. If a prescription sits on our shelf for too long, we have to put it back on our stock shelf.”
Customer #1 : “It’s only been a week! That’s just stupid! Give me back my script! I’ll go to [rival store]! Only one week! Absurd!”
(I escort her to my co-worker, so that I may help the other customers in line.)
Customer #2 : “Oh, honey, I think I may have done the same thing and waited too long; can you check?”
Me: “Certainly, sir.”
(I check, and indeed his was placed back to stock as well.)
Me: “Yes, sir, I’m afraid so.”
(Customer #2 speaks loud enough for everyone to hear.)
Customer #2 : “Oh, shoot. IT’S PURELY MY FAULT FOR FORGETTING, EVEN AFTER Y’ALL WERE SO NICE TO CALL ME TWICE. Thank you, sugar; I’ll go talk to [co-worker].”
Pharmacy | New York, NY, USA | Right | March 27, 2013
(I am a pharmacy technician. The pharmacist receives a call.)
Caller: “This is Lisa; I am calling from Dr. [Name]’s office. I need to call in a prescription for a patient.”
Pharmacist: “Sure, what is the patient’s name?”
Caller: “It is [Patient].”
Pharmacist: “And the prescription?”
Caller: “It’s [narcotic], 90 pills, three times a day.”
Pharmacist: “Okay, thanks.”
(The pharmacist hangs up and turns to me, frowning.)
Pharmacist: “Do you know anything about this?”
Me: “What? No, why?”
(The pharmacist shows me the called-in prescription.)
Me: “Oh! Lisa was fired months ago. You had better call the police.”
(When Lisa came in to pick up the narcotic prescription for her boyfriend, the police were there to arrest her. The doctor she used to work for is my father; she was trying to use his license number to get pills from a dozen nearby pharmacies.)
Pharmacy | ACT, Australia | Right | March 19, 2013
(Two customers enter at the same time. One is a woman, and the other is a man in his 70s. I get their scripts ready. As the woman is done first, I send her up to the tills while I finish with the man. Since there is another customer at the tills, I end up putting the man through before the woman is served.)
Woman: “I was here first! How come he is served before me? What does he have that I don’t?
(The man responds without a second thought.)
Man: “Raw sex appeal.”
(If I was allowed to discount scripts, I would have given him his for free.)
Pharmacy | Sydney, Australia | Working | May 28, 2013
(I am working late at night in a 24-hour pharmacy. There are only three customers in the store: a scruffy but clean young couple and another gentleman. The woman in the young couple is very heavily pregnant, and her partner is picking up the range of baby hats we carry and holding them up against her stomach, then looking at the prices and sadly putting them back. They pick up a packet of the cheapest pain medication we carry and bring it to the counter.)
Female Customer: “I’m sorry, but can you please ask the pharmacist if these are safe for me to take?”
Me: “Of course!”
(While we’re waiting for the pharmacist to come out, they tell me they’re expecting their daughter any day now. The pharmacist has been watching the young couple since they came in.)
Pharmacist: “These are fine, but can I ask why you need them?”
Female Customer: “Oh, I have a horrible cough that’s making my back ache even worse. I can’t get to sleep.”
(The pharmacist goes through a list of cough medicines safe for her to take, before the young man shakes his head with tears in his eyes.)
Male Customer: “I’m sorry, I’ve just lost my job and we really can’t afford any of those. Sorry for wasting your time.”
Pharmacist: “That’s okay, but this packet is damaged, and legally I can’t let you take it. Seeing as it was the last one, let me and [my name] go look in the back for some more.”
(The pharmacist takes me out the back, where he puts three packets of name brand painkillers, four bottles of name brand cough syrup, a wheat bag for her back, a tin of formula, a packet of newborn nappies and a few of the hats the couple was looking at into a box. He hands me the box and tells me to take it out to them. I do and they both burst into tears, thanking us over and over again. They leave with huge smiles on their faces.)
Female Customer: “Thank you again!”
Other Customer: “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but over hear. Did you say you just lost your job at [local company]?”
Male Customer: “Yes, I was an IT tech.”
Other Customer: “I own [other computer store in the area], and I’m looking for a new tech. Can you start tomorrow?”
(There were tears all round that night. A week later, the young woman brought in her beautiful daughter and a giant batch of cupcakes for the pharmacy staff. Best night at work ever!)
(My first child is sick and has been up all night crying with a fever. Before the store even opens, I am in the parking lot staring through the store window at the medicine I need with my sick, screaming baby. I can see and hear two employees nearby watching and making fun of me.)
Rude Employee #1 : “Oh my god, do you see that? That crack w**** is here with her crack baby so early in the morning! I thought those kinds of people only came out at night.”
Rude Employee #2 : “I guess you can never tell. I wonder what’s so important that she has to bring her screaming brat with her before we even open?”
(I ignore them as I wait patiently, but after another ten minutes my patience is wearing thin. I am about to tell them off when another employee walks up to the front doors and opens them.)
Nice Employee: “Ma’am, I know the store isn’t open for another twenty minutes, but I wanted to check on you.”
Me: “Oh, I’m sorry. My baby has had a fever all night and just won’t sleep! I only need something to help her fever so she’ll stop crying.”
Nice Employee: “I see. Would you come with me, please?”
(He opens the door for me and lets me into the store.)
Nice Employee: “Get what you need and I’ll meet you on register one to ring you out.”
Rude Employee #1 : “Hey! Don’t let that crack w**** in here. Her baby’s not sick! She’s just scamming you so she can shoplift!”
(Fortunately, the nice employee ignores them and helps me find what I need and walks me to the front of the store)
Nice Employee: “I’m sorry we let you wait out there so long. If I had known I would have gotten to you sooner. Unfortunately the registers are still not open, so I can’t ring you in, but I can let you go home with the medicine.”
Me: “But I have to pay for it. Let me at least leave some money here. You’ve been so nice; you can keep the extra as a tip.”
Nice Employee: “Ma’am, that’s very sweet of you, but I must insist you take your medicine and your sweet little girl home. As a single father, I have been in your shoes before, so I would like to pay for your baby’s medicine.”
Me: “Thank you. This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you so much!”
(I always go back to that store just because of that one nice employee. He totally makes up for the rude ones.)
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