Say what?

You've just chewed me out for waiting for your prescription, ... while I ran to catch the phone, type your prescription, count your pills, verify it with the pharmacist and run back to the cash... 
Next you load the counter up with 20 odd articles expecting me to ring them up with your $3.49 prescription, while 8 others sit in the waiting room waiting for their pain medication...
Say what?

Break Time

Breaks are fun, when you get them.
Today on my break, I got to sit and watch people have their passport photos taken while eating my snack in the lunchroom. This was followed by a wretched smell of someones foul smelling turds in our bathroom which we share...
Gross!
Note to self:  bring lysol to keep in locker so I can spray away those nasties and enjoy my break in peace.

A Pharmacy Technician, it's for you!

Here are some reasons why you should be a tech!


You get paid under $20/hr for the rest of your life.
You get to wear the same clothes everyday and they are polyester!
You never get home before 7pm weekdays and work weekends twice a month.
Lunch and bathroom breaks don't exist! 
You learn to eat under 2 minutes and not get indigestion.
Cold coffee and cold food actually tastes delicious.
You wear a name tag for the world to see your name.
After 30 years you still use a punch clock daily.
You answer the phone 100 times a day (minimum)
You take the blame for everything, customer is always right.
You negotiate time and money all day long.
You manage counting pills, answering the phone and running the cash at the same time and not make an error.
You empty garbage cans daily.
You wash counters daily.
You stock the pharmacy with bags, paper, vials and bottles daily.
You bend over every minute and pick up crates of medications to put away.
You run in circles.
You answer to annoying pharmacists who patronize you by calling you sweety only because they don't even know your name.
You have customers yell at you and complain all the time.


You learn resistance, patience, compassion, perserverance  and come back for more every day.!


What other job offers this to you?

I love my job.

I Have A Sore Throat

I'm sorry! 
You came into the pharmacy ranting and raving about a sore throat you have and was wondering what I could recommend to help you.
While politely trying to interrupt you to redirect you over to the pharmacy advice area I couldn't help but stare at the red, round, shiny rash on your shoulder.
Lady!! You have ringworm for petes sake and you're worried about your voice and throat.
Does this not concern you?
I mean really.............
Yuck!

It Happens

My Life is at Risk!

The other day we were comparing stories at different experiences we've had. It's pretty freaky to think about how dangerous our jobs can be sometimes!
People are not only sick when they come in but they are usually quite angry from having waited at their doctors office for so long. This makes their fuse short and they are ready to blow.
Not being able to reach the doctor either can cause someone to flip out too.
We seem to take a lot of the brunt.
I've seen people come in with a syringe loaded with blood, threatening to jab one of us if we don't fill his narcotic prescription. We've had a lady come in with a plastic shopping bag filled with urine ready to dump it on us, but instead just throws it across the counter at us and lets it spill everywhere.
It's rather abusive sometimes, not to forget the verbal abuse we take (with a smile).
So I'm thinking... why don't we have glass to protect us like they do at the clinics?
It would stop the germ transfer to a bit.
Just a thought? What's your thoughts?

Self Explanatory

The Big Times

Bless the crazies. If it wasn't for the colourful clients, my job would be tedious.

Every night at 10pm you come in and we have the routine conversation.

Firstly, it's your eye. You call me from across the counter and ask me, "Is my eye okay"?

Pulling down your left eyelid and waiting my response, I casually reply, "Yes, it looks okay Mrs. Big".

"He's coming you know", she states.

"Who"? I ask

"John"!

"Oh how is John doing Mrs. Big?", my next question.

John is a man she has met over the internet who is in the army, has sent her a distorted photo on her cellphone and has singed eyebrows. Apparently the singed eyebrows are a big turn on for Mrs. Big.

He's going to come to sweep her off her feet one of these days.....

"Do I look bloated"? she asks.

"I haven't taken my medicine for 3 days now. Apparently it can bloat you. Am I gaining weight?".

This entire conversation goes on for 5-10 minutes every night at closing across the counter as I quickly do my last minute closing tasks.

God Bless her!

"My eye is okay though eh"?

"My son lost his job and needs me right now, should I call things off with John"? 

I love it when Mrs. Big comes into the pharmacy. I find her really neat actually. She's OCD but what the heck. Who isn't to some degree? 

Her photos of John are strange, I don't even know if John exists and hopefully it isn't someone taking advantage of her over the internet.  She seems to have a lot of friends in strange places and I think everyone is looking out for her.

Thank you Mrs. Big for brightening my evening last night.

No Comment

Dumb Ass

Okay, apparently you came into the pharmacy today. Me being the 'new' person asked if I could help you and you told me your name. I looked in the prescription 'passera' drawer, saw your name, asked you your first name (as I always do), you replied YES, paid for the medicine, went home. Called back saying you got the wrong medicine. Of course you got the wrong medicine. You have a different first name. What is wrong with you?
Why did you agree to the first and last name that I asked?
Good grief.
Two times in 2 weeks. First time in 30 years! What the hell?

Yesterday, I asked you your first name, last name and read your address out. You got pissed off at me for saying your name and address out loud so the other customers could hear it. 


You're a strange bunch!

Morning Pee

Pregnancy tests are not a techs best friend! Especially how they have to be the first urine in the morning.


Every morning at 8 a.m. when the doors open, someone always arrives at the prescription counter wanting a pregnancy test.


For $3.99 we can determine if you are preggers or not.  The requirement is your first urine of the morning, mainstreamed and bottled. 2 drops are all that is required.


There are two types of tests that can be performed. One is called the '2' minute test. This test is done on a microscope slide where I add your urine to a buffer solution and roll it around on the slide for 2 minutes. If the results look granular then it's a positive, if it looks like milk, it's a negative.  This test is not always so accurate.


The other test is the '2' hour test. 2 drops are added to a buffer in a test tube, shaken for 30 seconds and left on a rack, undisturbed for 2 full hours. If a dark red ring appears at the bottom of the tube, you're pregnant, if nothing appears, you're not.


Many times before people come in for a pregnancy test they phone and ask for the requirements. Sometimes they come to the counter and ask, but not so often.


My question and grumble is this... Why do you bring me gallons of urine? I mean seriously. Nothing smells worse than opening a jar of someones urine first thing in the morning. 


The most repulsive one I've had to date is a jumbo size mayonnaise jar a quarter filled with urine, discoloured mayo on the lid and rim and pubic hairs hanging off. This made me gag and almost vomit. The smell almost killed me, and having to reach my entire fist into the jar to get to the bottom and retrieve 2 drops was the most revolting thing I've done. Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   A tiny pill bottle would be sufficient.


Pouring the remainders down the sink drain also makes me want to barf.


Another goody and a repeated one is the first urine that someone has left in their car baking in the sunshine for a few hours. 


This is just another wonderful experience I share with you and can now laugh at it.

Would You Like Ice Cream with That?

Another busy day in the pharmacy. It's not unusual for me to get calls from regulars in a panic stating they've dropped their daily medicine down the sink!


Today was just another day with similar calls to that nature.


Mrs. Gwynne had called twice worried that she may die if she doesn't take her  tablet that she dropped down the sink.  I let her speak to the pharmacist and all seemed to be well. 


Around 4:30, just as I was finishing up for the day,the phone rang. It was Mrs. Gwynne. She was clearly upset still about her lost pill.


I told her I would stop by her house on the way home. 


When I got there she had a T.V. table opened up in front of her television set and a bowl of ice cream waiting for me.!


I sat down, ate the ice cream and we had a nice long chat. Found her pill on the bathroom floor and handed it to her.


This call really was more about how lonely she is and really just wanting someone to care for her. 


Like all the elderly patients we have. I love them.  If it means once in a blue moon stopping by and having a bowl of ice cream... why not?  


I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.

Bless your heart Mrs. Gwynne.  :)

Venting is Good for You!

Dear Customer, this is how I vent after dealing with you on a daily 8 hour basis.
I've been doing my job since 1976 and in this entire time, I've never lost it to a customer (yet). I've had a bag of urine tossed at me, dirty syringes thrown in my direction, taken verbal abuse and had accusations galore but still remained calm or redirected you to someone else.
Yesterday our interact machine kept screwing up and the customer was getting obviously annoyed. When I looked up at the cash register screen I noticed that there was no cursor flashing. I called over a collegue and we both saw that it seemed to be frozen. After a few moments it worked and all was well. I reassured you that machines can do that and it wasn't his fault at all. The next person was starting to experience the same thing. I kindly asked him to go to the front cash and assured him it would be much quicker.  
The next day when I came into work I was called into the managers office and she said she overhead me telling off the customer that he was screwing up the machine! This is totally a lie and so not true! I said to the customer that the machine was messing up. She clearly misunderstood but she doesn't know me as I've only been working there a month. I've never once told a customer off and I'm so hurt by the fact that she believes that I did. She also explained to me how to treat customers. This is something I love to do is interact with people and anyone who knows me or has worked with me for a long time will justify that. When you transfer your job these are scary risks. You can lose your whole career in a matter of moments if someone above you doesn't believe you or like you.


During critical moments in my career, I've performed CPR twice and that was just recently. I've received letters from clients thanking me for being so calm and helpful in these stressful moments. I'm able to stay calm when people go off and start screaming etc.


Because I've been doing this so long with the Customer is Always Right drilled into my head, I've been a victim all too many times. 
As a customer I've never stood up for myself when cashiers are nasty to me. I just stay calm and quiet. 


I've served drug addicts demanding their Oxycodones. I've served people who forge prescriptions, aim loaded syringes at me, push me, throw things at me, but still I don't raise my voice. I walk away from the situation and ask for help.


So please before you judge me. Like you, I am human. I work hard. I've worked as a single parent for 20 years, valuing my job, studying hard and always updating myself to be on top of things. 


Respect is a small thing to ask for but it's a big thing. I offer it to you. 

Lysol Overdose

Four months easily I can recall one of our techs complaining of a foul smell at her end of the pharmacy. Daily she would create clouds of Lysol to ease the stench.
It's not uncommon to have backed up toilets at our store as the thieves that steal, use our washrooms and flush evidence down and block our toilets.
But this time the toilets were clear and there was no direction as to where the stink was coming from.


Paul shows up at our counter for his weekly dis pill. Not the cleanest looking man but always very charming and complimenting the staff and smiling. 
Weekly he asks for the key to the bathroom and sometimes he remembers to return it and sometimes he doesn't. Today is one of those days that he doesn't. 
Luckily my boss keeps extra keys in the safe for those days because we use the same bathroom as the public does.  I see Paul in the discount section and run up to him and ask him for the key. "Oh, I left it in the bathroom", he replies.
"Can you show me Paul?". We walk over to the bathroom and he veers off to the right. "Where are you going Paul?", I asked. "Over here, to the bathroom". He opens the broom closet door and what I saw next made me gasped in horror out loud. There on the floor was "Mount Paul". 3 feet of poop on the floor, surrounded by dust bunnies, and 4 missing keys on key rings. 
Picture this.  A tiny room with a broom and a couple of small boxes, no lights, no toilet, no paper, just a cement floor. 
My God! 
Paul left shrugging his shoulders. What the hell did he think? Did he really think this was our bathroom? 
After the initial shock, I burst out laughing and called for the store manager.
I think I laughed my ass off all night long. This was just so 'out' there.
The next day, while working, I heard a squeaky noise going by the counter, looked up and there was the manager with his wheel barrow and shovel.


The laughter started again. And I will never forget this day I'm sure.
I now realised why the tech was getting all the foul smells. The air vents are connected and she would get first wind of it all!


Good Grief!

I Spy

"Call 911, I've got a serious problem".
As I pick up the receiver and start to punch in the numbers I hear what this customer is babbling about and quickly drop the receiver back in the cradle.


"My Landlord is watching me", she shouts. "He's got a camera in the toilet bowl and is watching every 'move' I make".
Good grief. I look over at the calendar on the wall to see if it's a circled date. Circled dates are my way of marking the full moon. Crap! Another two weeks away !


I spend a good 15 minutes reassuring her that I've had my secret service men remove the camera and she's clear to go home now.


She buys it and leaves.


I watch her get into her car and drive away. Another one, driving on the roads in total fits of paranoia. This scares me!

Smile I'm watching you read this!

Crayons?

You came storming into the pharmacy with your 3 children. They were already at the back of the store before you were half way down the aisle. Screaming and hands flailing, things were clearly out of control. For that one moment, the entire staff in the prescription department came to a grinding halt to see what the noise was all about.


While your children were banging on the blood pressure machine and tearing magazines you yelled at our pharmacist to get crayons for your unruly children! Are you serious?


I stood there in disbelief, wanting desperately to say something. Luckily for me a client I was serving looked at you and said, "Do you think this is a Day Care Center?".
Awesome! I could have kissed her for reading my mind.


You told us to hurry the prescription up, you didn't have time to wait. As with all prescriptions, we did our best and completed your order.


When I got up to the cash, you started to question me whether or not your husband needed these 3 prescriptions only after you saw they were $63.87.  I told you I imagined he did seeing how a doctor examined him and wrote the prescription up.
He had a very bad sinus infection and you still doubted he needed the cortisteroids.
I casually mentioned from the sinus things can spread up to the brain if left untreated.


It was your next reply that still haunts me.
"Would  you pay for medicine for your husband"? 
I quickly replied I sure would at any price as well.
You then said to me, "No man is worth this".


Wow.
What about the $143. worth of cosmetics you just purchased? 
Should I charge you for the damages your children made while you left them unattended?


What about the mental damage you've done to your children now? They heard everything you said about your husband. 


Just another day.....

98 Years Young

The sweetest man came up to the counter the other day. He was escorted by his 50'ish son and together they were looking for liners for him to tuck in his underwear at night.
I walked over to the section with them and showed them the ones specifically made for men and he cringed at the size of them and said they were much too big. After looking at several different brands he and his son decided they should probably go off to the competitor because he knew they had them.
He was telling me his age (98) and how he felt it was annoying at the thought of having to tuck one of these in his underwear but he said like every thing else, things start to falter.  He had such beautiful eyes and a smile that could melt anyone's heart.
I didn't want to give up to easily and asked him if he could describe the packaging a bit to me and I could make an order for him and get them in the following day.
"Well", he said. "They have wings on them"!  It suddenly dawned on me that perhaps he's using Always with wings! We walked over to the feminine hygiene department and sure enough, there they were! He was tickled pink.  I mentioned that these were made for women but if they worked, why not?! He snickered and got a good kick out of that.
Just after he thanked me and started to leave, I noticed he left his cane hooked on the counter. I grabbed it and ran up to him to give it to him. He said to me while leering at his son. "I don't need this cane"! Then he said to me, "I use it to keep the old ladies off of me". I nearly died laughing! 
I love elderly people so much and nothing gives me more satisfaction than serving them and listening to their great stories.
I hope I live to be 98 years young too.

Cover Your Mouth!

Behind the counter can be a challenge! First of all we come into contact with all kinds of germs just waiting to leap over the counter. 
I find it really rude when you come up to the counter and start coughing without covering your mouth. 
Just last week a man came into the pharmacy with a horrendous cough. While I was writing his information down on his prescription he started to cough and horked a yellow piece of (I don't know what) right into my mouth... OMG!
After he left, I ran to the aisle and grabbed some Listerine which kills 99% germs at the advice of the pharmacist.
Gross! By this time I had already had it in my mouth for more than a minute.
Please use your manners and cover your freakin' mouth.


From the doctors office to the pharmacy I don't know what happens but it's really distasteful to bring in your prescription with stains of God knows what fluids. It really makes my stomach curdle and it's just down right nasty.
No one wants to touch your prescription yet we have to!


People with infections in private areas, please see a doctor. We had one lady come in with a tissue and asked us to see if this discharge on it was a sign of infection. Not only did that make me want to vomit, I couldn't eat for the rest of the day just thinking about it. What the hell? Are you insane?
It still makes me sick just thinking of it.


You've waited an hour at the doctors office. Big deal! At least you have a doctor. Don't come into the pharmacy and start yelling at us because you now have to wait 15 minutes for your prescription. And.. don't tell me you could do it quicker. You can't and don't know what you're talking about.
Take your anger elsewhere. Trust me, we're doing your prescription as quick as we can because we want you out of here as quickly as possible.


Talking to other customers and badmouthing us isn't very nice either.
How would you like it ? 
We are professionals, doing each prescription with respect and professionalism and your constant interruptions and pacing doesn't make it any easier for us.


Take it or leave it.
Just please cover your mouth!

Can I Use Your Bathroom?

Enough already! Stop coming into our store and dashing to the pharmacy counter asking if you can use our washroom.
We do not have a public restroom. There are restaurants on either side of us that will let you use theirs as well as a medical center near by.


We used to let people use the toilet but here's what happens...


You see a staff locker open, you take out the wallet, scurry into the toilet, take out the money and flush the wallet down the toilet. Why??
Would you flush a wallet in your own toilet? Do you know the mess it makes and the cost of a plumber to fix this problem? Now the staff can't go to the bathroom for the rest of the day. And someone has been robbed. Stop it!


You read the sign on the back of the toilet that says, Please Don't Flush Paper Towels or Sanitary Napkins ... but yet, you challenge it and do.


You decide it's more interesting to make your deposit beside the bowl on the floor or on the seat. 


You smear the walls with your bodily deposits.


You leave the sink running.


You still merchandise and leave the empty packaging in the bathroom and seem to get away with it.


You don't return the key and we think after a few hours there may be a dead body in the bathroom and dread being the one to go in and check.


I don't like cleaning up after you. No one does.
We sell depends in Aisle 4.


No, we don't have a public bathroom ANYMORE!

Five to Ten

It's five minutes to ten p.m. and we are all tired from a days work. There are things that have to be done in order to close the store for the night.  Garbage bins are overflowing, two separate types. One for shredding which holds confidential information... like your empty pill bottles you love to bring back, unused prescription receipts, anything basically that has your name on it. The other is regular garbage with the smell of food we didn't get to finish eating during our shift... Narcotic report must be printed and each name must match a prescription and be checked off. Daily sales report, empty vial drawers must be filled up, prescription receipts and labels replenished, counters cleaned, compounding materials washed and put back in place, filing, and the large bins on the floor with the days order need to be put away on the shelf. We try to get this done in between customers. Problem is, someone always arrives at 5 to 10 with a discharge prescription from the hospital, or a dispill change and always...... I mean always...... someone arrives with a prescription dated at least 5 days ago and suddenly decides they need this a few minutes before we close.
Come on people! Give us a break!


The pharmacists and techs even sacrifice their lunch and suppers to serve you and wait until at least 2 to eat, and what happens? As soon as our food is heated up, in you come, expecting your prescription immediately.  I can understand the ones that are really sick and just coming in from the doctors office, but the ones that hoard prescriptions for a couple of months always seem to be the ones in the biggest rush. It's so typical!


We come back day after day because we love our work. 
But sometimes, it's hard and sometimes we just need to hear 'thank you', 'well done'.


:)

Questions asked in an 8 hour period daily:


Do you sell urine test kits?
Where do you keep the polysporin?
Do I need a prescription for Oxycontin?
Other Pharmacies give it to me without a prescription, why not yours?
Where is the toilet paper on sale?
How long will it take you to fill my 4 prescriptions?
Why 15 minutes?
Why isn't it ready?
Do you have change?
Do you deliver?
Can you phone my doctor for a renewal?
What is this medication for?
Can you refill my blue pills? I don't remember their name.
Can I have a receipt for last years income tax?
Is the Pharmacist here with the brown hair?
Can I speak to the person who called me today? I don't remember who it was.
Will you fax my doctor today?
Will my prescription be filled today?
What aisle is lanocaine in?
Do you sell stamps here?
Can I renew my bus pass here?
Do you have rain checks for Colgate toothpaste?
Can I use your bathroom?
Can I use your phone?
Can I have a plastic bag please?
How much did my insurance pay?
Did the Gov't pay for any of this?
Why isn't it covered?
What do you mean my prescription is over? It has 9 repeats left (dated 2009)
Do you sell the day after pill here?
Where is the Gravol?
Where can I find dental floss?
Is the manager here?
Did my husband call in his renewal today?
Can I add this?
Can I pay for all of this here?
Can I speak to the Pharmacist?
Do you have the phone number for the doctor?
Has the driver left with my delivery?
When did the driver leave?
Can you fill all these prescriptions from another pharmacy?
Why do you want to know what kind of infection I have?
Can you check my daughters file and tell me what meds she's taking?
Are there any side effects to this medication?
Do you speak Spanish?
Can I leave this here? I don't want it.
Can you change the lids on these vials? I can't open them.
Are you sure there are 30 pills in here? Doesn't look like it.
Can you cut my pills in half?
What time do you close?
Can I drink with this medicine?
Did the price go up?

Clean Up Aisle 4 Please!

While counting a 3 month supply of meds for a patient I noticed a lady in aisle 4 jiggling her legs and doing an odd dance. I continued to keep an eye on her while counting 360 of Mr. Booths blood pressure pills. 
Strange I thought to myself that this woman was still fidgeting around all this time and once in awhile looking around with a guilty look on her face. Once I was done with 9 different scripts for Mr. Booth I decided to walk down to aisle 4.
Usually after someone has shoplifted we find empty packaging on shelves. What I found was definately not that! 
Good grief! There on the floor was human poop. Not just one but 4 neatly piled poops. Unbelievable. How on earth had she managed to do this without removing her clothes still has me stunned. 
Shaking my head in disbelief I paged for the stock clerk to clean up in Aisle 4. 
A really nice guy,newly hired and first job came eagerly out of the stock room with his mop and bucket totally not expecting this neat parcel on the floor. He stared at me as if to question if I had had an accident!! 
"Does this happen a lot?"
I started to laugh so hard. "I've never seen it happen before", I answered. 
As I was laughing a man came running down the aisle from another store in the mall to warn us that a lady was going around pooping in stores. He looked down and realized he was too late!
Okay, really now.. how many times can someone poop on demand, and why??? why on a floor in a store? Why?
So you think you've had a shitty day?
This has a whole new meaning to that expression.

Anti-Oxygen

• Man: Excuse me, where can I find the anti-oxygen?
• Me: Anti-oxygen??
• Man: Yeah anti-oxygen! It's suppose to be good for you.
• Me: ...You mean antioxidants?
• Man: No... the tv said anti-oxygen! Does your store sell it or not?
• At this point I am trying my best to not burst out and laugh in his face.
• Pharmacist, could you please council this man. Thank you.

OMG! Mrs. Fitzgerald is on line 2 and she's livid. She was reading her prescription receipts and noticed on Mr. Fitzgerald's receipt a charge for Viagra.
"There must be some kind of mistake by you people", she hollers on the phone.
"I want a print out of all of Harolds prescriptions and I'm coming down there right now". After she finishes yelling at me on the phone I tell her that I cannot give her a print out of her husbands prescriptions without permission from him. "Oh you techs, you think you know everything, put the pharmacist on the line now and do as I tell you".
"Pharmacist, line 2 please.". 

So it would seem Mrs. Fitzgerald doesn't get it, but her husband sure as heck seems to be!.

A typical routine Monday. Phone lines open at 8am and before you know all 5 lines are blinking. The familiar 'robot' voice keeps repeating over and over there are lines to be answered.   Schedule is one pharmacist and one technician until 10am.
Mr. Edger is on line one and he wants to go over step by step on how to apply his hemorrhoid cream.  Sadly, Mr. Edger calls daily and asked to go over this each time. While explaining this professionally over the phone his breath quickens and and one can only imagine what kind of a kick is he really getting from this daily call. 
I've even tried to re-direct him to a health professional hot line for his daily call but to no avail he insists on talking to one of us.
For 10 years Mr. Edger has called to talk about his hemorrhoids and then just one day the calls stopped. I've often wondered what has happened to him. Once in a conference there were several technicians gathered around a table at break discussing some of their stress management relief and I overheard a story very similar to Mr. Edgers. We concluded that all of us were getting these daily calls and they had now stopped. I guess this was the 'end' of Mr. Edger. Excuse the pun. Now this leaves me with line 2.

Welcome to my world! 
As a way of venting and dealing with the general public, I've decided to create a blog in order to share the ups and downs of life in the world of the health industry! To be more  specific, the pharmaceutical industry.
After 30 years of working in this field and sharing laughter with my colleagues I was urged to jot down some of these events ..... so here we go!
All the names are changed in order to respect the privacy act and there in no intention of harm to anyone, it's merely to share laughter and let you know what really goes on behind the pharmacy counter!