The Answer is STILL no

Last Friday.... my tech called me over to talk to Mr Druggie about his request for early benzo rx. He had filled @#90 of said rx 2 days prior. Reason for early fill???? He lost it. Uh-huh. He goes on and on about how stupid he was to have it in his pocket and it fell out while he was working. As usual, I say not until I clear it with the MD and it is 5:20 on Friday. He insists I call the MD anyway since he thinks they are still there. They aren't. What a surprise.

Last Saturday.......I answer phone and the guy on the line is asking if he can fill his med early since he is going on a cruise Sun. I ask for his name. It is Mr Druggie and what do you know? It's for the same med as Friday. Now, I'm really ticked. I say the answer is no as it was yesterday when he asked for early fill. I also inform him that YESTERDAY the story was that he had lost the meds at work. He denies ever saying this and he needs the med because he is going on a cruise. I repeat Friday's conversation back to him and he says that it doesn't matter b/c he needs it now for his vacation. Answer: no.

Today......tech asks me to get phone for early benzo refil request. Can everyone guess who it is?? NOW he is leaving for Michigan on Monday. I have to bite my tongue not to start yelling at him to never come back to my pharmacy. THE ANSWER IS STILL NO. He asks when he can have it.....I tell him the day before the refil is due which is July 2nd. Not early enough for him as he will be out of town then.

Is there a cruise line on the Great Lakes now?????

Oh, and the best....he is a Medicaid patient. A cruise and a trip to Michigan while on the state's dime.

you've got to be kidding me

I have a problem tech as most of us probably do. She is one step away from getting canned for repeated sick calls and being late. But, to her credit, she has not missed a day since March.

She goes out quite often for me to get me various food to clog my arteries. I do not have her punch out for this as it is my request and not her lunch. This weekend she asks if I need her to go get me lunch. I had actually brought lunch for once and asked her if she needed to go get herself something. She said, "No but I was hoping you wanted something so I could go by Blockbuster."

WHAT? !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do not eat at Blockbuster. Getting me food is not time for her to do other errands. I am still pissed off. I asked her why she thought going to get me food included her stopping by Blockbuster and she just said "I just needed to look for something real quick."

I will have to be seriously starving to ever send her for food again.

When the pharmacy is closed..it is closed

On the weekends, my pharmacy closes at 6pm. Signs are posted. This has been the closing time for the past 5 years since the store has been open. All other pharmacies in the area also close at 6pm except the few 24 hour stores.

Every damn weekend people want me to stay after 6 to get their damn stuff. I have been open 10hrs (Sat) or 8hrs (Sun). Get here when I am open. I am not staying. Last week, idiot #1 came up right as my cash registers were being taken by the front store supervisor. So, I had to ring her out. Which leaves me open for the next idiot to come up. My drop off window is closed and the gate is down. Idiot #2 waves several new rxs at the supervisor and asks if she can still have them filled. I said no...we close at 6. Now, before everyone gets all upset, I would probably stay for a regular customer with a true emergency. Anyway, she snaps back "Well, what time is it?", still not looking at me, but the store supervisor. I say, 6:05. She says, "So for a lousy 5 minutes you won't fill my rx?" I say, yes but there is a 24 hour big box rx less than 5 miles from here. That's too far for her to drive. Not my fucking problem. Then she has to pull the "Well, I thought I would give your pharmacy a try, but I guess you don't want my business" crap. Hell no, I don't want one more person in this pharmacy to give me attitude. GO AWAY.

I put the pick-up window gate down. Now I cannot see from the electronic switch on the wall if someone is near the gate. I hear a voice....oh you're closed? I holler over the noise of the gate...YES! I set the alarm and leave to see the woman standing there. I inform her we close at 6pm and it is now 6:10....we open at 10am tomorrow. She is at least polite and says that she will come back in the morning.

I am a person....I have a life....and I don't get paid OT to stay after my shift and help your sorry ass. Get to the pharmacy when we are open.

Here I am again

Ok after an 18 month abscense, I have returned. Looooonnnngggg story.

Anyway, I am still in the retail craziness and hating every day. Why do I torture myself? I am seriously considering switching to another field, but the economy is not the best now to go job hunting. I will wait impatiently for the economy to improve.

Pet peeve of the day.........I got off work at 5pm. I had a few items to pick up before I left the store. There I was at the front of the store at the register with crap in my hands, purse on my shoulder, no white coat anywhere near me, and with my husband when a woman comes up to me and says "Oh you're the pharmacist...I have a question..............."

I just wanted to scream.....THERE IS ANOTHER PHARMACIST ..............GO ASK HIM.

But I didn't, I answered her question, but not to my full capacity. I was not going to go all the way back to the first aid isle to help her pick out crap for her son's poison ivy.

Don't bother me when I am obviously on MY TIME. I have a life too.

Before I go....

I just had to tell a story a fellow pharmacist told me today. A few years back she was working in a predominantly poor neighboorhood that happened to also be predominantly black. Nothing against any African Americans here. It's just that she had a hard time understading the language nuances. One lady called several times very upset over something. After many people listening to her woes, my friend finally determined she had a "tater vine" growing out of her "cat." Now tater vine means what it says potato vine and cat meant vagina. OK...now we get a picture. Why did she have a potato vine growing out of her vagina? Well, apparantly she had a prolapsed uterus/bladder combo so in her book of old wives tales, it was suggested she insert a potato into the vagina to hold it in place. She did not use the whole potato, just a wedge (not that it would have mattered much). Anyway, my friend convinced her to go to the free clinic to get a look-see. Aparantly, the potato really likes to grow in a warm, moist, dark environment. The lady had to have a hysterectomy.

I have so many whys to this story, I cannot list them all. #1 being Why are you calling the pharmacist? We have no pills for growing vaginal potato vines. Maybe you should call Home Depot and they can assist you with a weed-wacker purchase.

Worst story I've ever heard. I've got some doozies, but this wins the prize.

On Hiatus

I'll be gone for a while. My store is getting a new computer system in 3 weeks and with all of the training and prep I am exhausted.

Will post when I get calmed down.

Thanks to the couple of you who have been reading.

Dear "Pharmacy Slave"

I would have emailed you personally, but you had no contact info or way to comment on your blog.

Your quote "I have seen all these blogs from pharmacists who are incessantly complaining about their days...and I figured that I should go on ahead and give myself a shot. As much as I love my pharmacists (at least 2 of them...one I hate more than I hate my job), they have all told us lowly technicians that we field more problems than they do an deal with much more since we're in the front lines of customer service. For the most part, our pharmacists kick back and do crossword puzzles and occasionally check the rare prescription while we do everything else...so I shall begin this lovely little blog tomorrow when I return home from work. "

I am was a tech for 15 years before I went to pharmacy school. I know what it's like to be a tech. I used to think just like you. Then I got my license. Now, I want to call my old boss of 13 years and apologize for all the bullshit complaining I did. You don't know what kind of pressure there is for a pharmacist. Yes, you are the front line for us, but we have to deal with the customers also while trying not to kill anyone. "Occasionally check the rare prescription????"" Who else can do it? The pharmaicst checks ALL of the prescriptions. I don't have time to do a crossword puzzle. It must be nice that your pharmacists can. I can barely pee. Sometimes I think about wearing depends, but then there would be the smell. I call doctors, I call insurance companies, I save my techs from being chewed out by an idiot, I handle all of the complaints, I type prescriptions, I check medication usage-interactions-dosages-medical conditions-allergies, I make hundreds of recommendations, I LISTEN to old ladies cry when they've been diagnosed with cancer.

I also value every last one of my techs and thank them regularly for a job well done. I could not do my job without them. I don't forget this. EVER. I am sorry you feel that you are a "lowly" tech. I always correct mine when they say "I'm just a tech" if a patient asks their position. I say, "You are a technician...not just a tech. Do not belittle your position in this pharmacy."

I know your job is difficult, but so is ours.