The Pharmacy Chick

Flying the Coop in Retail

Patience…patients!

Filed under: Uncategorized — pharmacychick at 9:41 pm on Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Ya know, the Pharmacy Chick may be getting old, and maybe 22 in the biz has made me take a lot less crap than I used to, and perhaps those few strands of grey hair popping out of my scalp is allowing me to get away with more crap than I should. For all intents and purposes, some jerk could have caused trouble for me if he went to the store manager, cuz I talked back. But, he deserved it.

Don isn’t known for his kindness or patience. How his wife puts up with him is beyond me.  My intern went to find the rx he wanted for his wife and it wasn’t ready. It needed to be checked, as she had called in her refill only an hour or so before.  She told him it needed to be checked and then asked if this was the only rx he wanted or if she had more than one.. Instead of listening to what the intern asked, he just kept shouting his wife’s name. “MABEL JONES!” “MABEL JONES!” “I want Mabel Jones’s prescription!” He’s not hard of hearing, he is just a horse’s arse.

I had enough. I walked over and said “Hey, lets be friends!, she is trying to find out if this is the only one you wanted.” “You haven’t given us enough time to finish her order, and if you go home with one bottle and you were supposed to have two, you’ll have to come back and then you’ll really be mad!”

He bellowed “Well I dont feel very much like being nice today”.  I wasn’t backing down “Well, thats pretty clear , but you are gonna have to be if you want us to help you”.

Ya know what? I really don’t care how crappy the economy is, I don’t care if your underwear is in a bunch, if you lost your best friend, or even if the Dr just said you have 6 months to live. I am sick and tired of people being rude to those of us trying to help them. I know I have written about this before, but there needs to be an end to the culture of RUDENESS that has invaded every cell of our being.  We watch TV shows and people are rude, we see the news and people are rude. I see rudeness in checkstands, in restaurants, on the streets, in traffic, everywhere… People think their crappy circumstances gives them the right to play the victim and allows them carte blanche to be nasty to other people. Guess what?  It doesn’t!  Whether it be the waiter serving you drinks at the corner bistro, the technician changing your oil, or the pharmacist filling your prescription: Cool your jets!  The last time I checked, the earth did not revolve around your sorry butt and nobody died and left you Heaven and Earth to bow at your command.

Is this a side effect of our urban lifestyle?  When I go home to my small midwestern town, I feel like I am washing off a dirty film of city grime off my psyche.  People behave different.

I couldn’t sit there and let this guy berate my intern. She hadn’t done anything less than try to make sure he had exactly what he wanted.

Service doesn’t mean slave.

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5 Comments »

875

Comment by JohnnyNashville

March 11, 2009 @ 7:27 am

GOOD FOR YOU! Yes! Let them know that their unsocial behavior is UNACCEPTABLE! Why do people insist on being rude to begin with? What illegitimate sense of entitlement to they feel they have somehow earned? Why exert this false entitlement at other’s expense? And WHY, GOD, WHY ARE WE NOT ALLOWED TO DEFEND OURSELVES WHEN WE ARE ATTACKED LIKE THIS!? The Christian and pharm tech in me says, “forgive, roll over, and be patient.” The Marine in me says, “SHUT YOUR CONDESCENDING TRAP, YOU ARROGANT INGRATE, BEFORE I SHUT IT FOR YOU!” We have become a culture of two extremes: on one hand, we have those who are absolutely inconsiderate to EVERYONE, and on the other we have everyone else, who is SO AFRAID they’ll hurt someone’s feelings (GOD FORBID) that they take all sorts of crap from all sorts of crappy people. It’s ok to become ANGRY, within reason! The first group needs a beating. I used to do this very thing for a living (Semper Fi!). The second needs a spine and to reach down and grab a pair. Screw P.C.

876

Comment by sickofstupidpeople

March 11, 2009 @ 8:39 am

The level of rudeness I encounter every day can be mind-blowing. I’m getting to the point where it’s not just the ones with foul mouths that I send packing, but also the extremely rude ones. I have said, as I’m handing their written prescription back to them “Go find another pharmacy to abuse”. I know in most people’s minds, pharmacists make a ton of money, but NO amount of money would be enough to put up with some of the crap we’re dealt on a daily basis.

877

Comment by Karen H

March 11, 2009 @ 9:21 am

amen and amen. There is absolutely NEVER an excuse for rudeness. Even though it seems to be the norm everywhere you look – especially TV. Great -so now other countries see TV and think that’s how we all are!!

Go Chick, for protecting your intern. Interns and techs can make or break us, and we get brownie points for protecting their backs…Keep up the good manners (and acting like a mother hen – I like it!)

878

Comment by PharmacyJim

March 11, 2009 @ 11:37 am

I certainly will take some abuse, but, don’t abuse my cashiers and Techs. It is my policy to step in if there is a conflict. I don’t solve them all, because some people are unreasonable. I especially like the “Do you know how much money I spend here?” As stated earlier, THAT also is no excuse for rudeness. BTW, I gladly give out my DM’s phone number if they have a problem with me.

879

Comment by chris

March 13, 2009 @ 5:56 am

I find that a lot of the really rude customers who I have heard abuse my assistants and techs are nice as pie when i am speaking to them. I tell my staff that if a customer every starts getting nasty, send them to me, i know none of us are paid to take shit from patients, but i’d rather them go off at me than at my staff any day. I am as thick skinned as my patient’s are thick headed, so it takes a lot to get to me, so i usually have some fun. I love when they get really riled up, wanting a big arguement, but you are oh ever so nice to them, they get really flustered and end up making a tit of themselves.

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