Monday Musings: Flying the Coop in Retail

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by The Pharmacy Chick - December 19, 2011

Provided by The Pharmacy Chick

I wish I understood the whole world. Some things defy understanding:

YOU have an ailment…YOU go to the doctor. You probably have to wait until you are called. Somebody takes you into a private and quiet room and you wait some more til the dr arrives. He examines you and asks YOU questions about your ailment that I assume YOU answer appropriately and respectfully. He assesses your situation and ( hopefully) discusses with you your treatment options, and the two of you proceed with the option that is ( hopefully) best for your ailment. He gives you a prescription for the drug he feels is most appropriate for your situation. He likely schedules YOU for a followup to assess if the drug is working. You leave.

You arrive at my pharmacy, hand me the prescription while you are arguing with your kid on the phone, only stopping long enough to ask me ” HOW LONG IS THIS GONNA TAKE?”, followed by a eye-roll and a sigh when I tell you 20 minutes. You pace back and forth the entire time. Unfortunately ( for me) your Dr has prescribed a drug that is gonna set you back $75. I get you to the cash register and deliver the news. You look at me like I am crazy, and demand I call the office to get something cheaper. When I point out that it is after 5 pm and he is closed, you mutter ” whatever!..I’ll be back tomorrow”, and you leave, leaving me not knowing for sure, if I am supposed to call the doctor and change the drug or not.

That was fun.

The flip side of this story is the wonderful lady who delivered ( I kid you not) 15 pounds of holiday cookies to the four of us at the store. OMG..

I guess it is true: for every action there is an equal and opposite REaction.

The Pharmacy Chick is a retail pharmacist in the Western United States, gutting it out in fairly busy store. She ticks off each day as one more day closer to retirement, after 22 years in the biz. She remembers typewriters, rolls of labels, want books, and everybody paid cash. Now all she wants to remember is what all her passwords are!

The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

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Comments Add Your Comments

Moira Eileen Ahl (Bolivar New York)	on 20 Dec 2011 at 12:45 pm

Dear Pharmacy Chick, Lord have mercy. As a retail pharmacist the question that is the equivalent of scratching your finger nails on a chalkboard is... "How long is this gonna take?" or "How long?" My personal favorite is the argument you get when you tell them how long and they tell you that you are wrong! How about a couple of years ago when we all had to compound Tamiflu? I had a woman drop off 7 prescriptions of this particular compound. 2 adult, 5 children. NONE of her information was accurate, and half of the children's prescription cards did not work! And my techs were fantastic! They always asked if there were any changes with insurance or whatever! She had the gonads to call the doctor at home and complain about the pharmacy because the prescriptions took too long! Fun wow! Moira, Over-achieving Pharm.D. (Thank the good lord the physician was very angry with the patient and not us!)