The Pharmacy Chick

Flying the Coop in Retail

White Socks and Black Socks

Filed under: Uncategorized — pharmacychick at 9:04 am on Thursday, July 24, 2008

This morning as I padded sleepy-eyed from the bed to the dresser, I commented to Mr Chick “Today’s going to be a good day!” He asked why and I said “Because its WHITE sock day” We both had a little chuckle because we knew exactly what it meant.

The Chicks do not have a large diversity in the sock drawer. We have a drawer of white socks and a drawer of black socks. When I draw from the black sock drawer, it means I have to go to work. When I draw from the white sock drawer, Its a play day. Today is a WHITE sock day. Poor Mr chick. He put on black socks today :-(

My only exception is this: If I ever make it to Boston, I’ll be RED SOX all over! Boo Yankees.

Peace!

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Air-conditioned discomfort

Filed under: Uncategorized — pharmacychick at 9:16 pm on Sunday, July 6, 2008

One would think that with the price of fuel these days that people wouldn’t be so aggressive with the heating /cooling of their businesses. Heating never seems to be an issue. I cannot think of anyplace I have ever gone into where I was shedding clothes because it was too warm. However Pharmacy Chick keeps clothes in her trunk because there seems to be an abundance of businesses who run the A/C til frost forms on the windows.

Take today for example. The Chick’s decided to grab a burger before church. It wasn’t very warm today, only about 72 and cloudy all day, so it was not like we had a heat wave going on. We got out of the car and I asked Mr Chick to open the trunk to grab my fleece. He just rolled his eyes and popped the trunk. I had been here before, I knew exactly what it was going to be like and I was right. It was FREEZING in there, in fact there was NOBODY eating inside the restaurant, everybody was outside. We joined them. We positioned ourselves fairly near the door and almost everybody who walked to the outdoor eating area said the same thing: ” Sheesh its cold in there, lets eat out here!”

Now ya gotta know that all that air conditioning is costing somebody money. Even we are fairly careful about turning on the air at the Chick household. We dont like to see our electric bills escalate into the triple digits just because we want to be cool. We save it for when we need it. So what is the purpose of having a room temperature that is in the low 60’s when its only 72 outside?

Even experts suggest you heat your house to 68 in the winter and cool it to 78-80 in the summer. Church wasn’t much better. I remember the days before somebody donated air conditioning to our church sanctuary. Granted there were some days where some fans and ice water would have gone a long way during a sermon, but I’d trade that over needing fleece in July.

Perhaps its just me. I like to be warm. I am not an Eskimo at heart. I’d wear flip flops over boots anyday and my outdoor activities revolve around sun not snow. I am the first to put on pants when it cools down and the last to go sleeveless when the temperature goes up. I am ready for a hot-flash.

Even my store is guilty of this. Until it reaches into the 90’s where even the A/C cannot even keep up, our store is routinely 65 inside. I know this because I have a thermometer in the pharmacy. I wear long sleeves all year long. I’d love to know, if they would raise the temp up to 70, how much money in utitilies would they save.

Maybe enough to give me a raise…its been awhile.

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Would I do it all over again?

Filed under: Uncategorized — pharmacychick at 7:37 pm on Thursday, June 26, 2008

I was ringing up a sale at the register when a long time customer asked me Do you like being a pharmacist? It seems like a fun job. After I checked to see if she had alcohol on her breath I took a moment to respond. I didn’t want to lie and tell her I had the coolest job on the planet, but I also didn’t want to make it sound like my job was akin to mucking out port-a-potties either. Since she had asked a sincere question, I decided that a sincere, honest and to-the-point answer was in order: I said “Depends on the day”.

I told her the truth. The business has been good to me financially. I have made a good living in a field that to date, has been largely immune from the trials and tribulations of economic instability. For 20+ years we have weathered pharmacist shortages that has virtually guaranteed that I will not have to stand in the bread line anytime soon. I could walk off my job tomorrow and by the middle of next week I could have my pick of any number of jobs. Granted, they may not be GREAT jobs, but they would put food on the table. For a lot of people, that is a lofty aspiration and one that I do not take for granted. Neither do I consider myself indispensable (forgive the pun). Everybody is replaceable even if it DOES take a while.

I told her that the job however is rarely “fun”. The cost of this good income is long hours, working in a retail setting that is open 363 days a year, and dealing with the public who comes to me largely because they HAVE to and not because they WANT to. My hours are decided by somebody else, not myself. I cannot choose to close early because I am tired or sick. For the priviledge of being a retail pharmacist, I also forfeit uninterrupted lunches and working in a quiet unhurried environment. I cannot choose my workload. The wearer of the white coat lives under a microscope most of the time, micromanaged by the company she works for, and pressured all day by the demands from whomever is the most persistent.

“Line 1, Guess who?” Like I’d have to guess. For the 6th time today Harold has called to see if his Doctor has ok’d his Vicodin. AND, despite my promises that I will call him the very moment its authorized, Harold calls about every hour….and demands to talk to me.

“Line 2, Guess who also?” Harold just hung up so it has to be Dina, who just picked up her prescription. We play 20 questions every time she comes in. No human on the planet has called our store more often than Dina. While I like her, I wish she would go away. “Can I take Aspirin when I am using Patanol?”, “Can my son take Ibuprofen with his Amoxicillin?” “If I have an allergic reaction to Claritin, can I take Benadryl?” “What happens If I have a reaction to Benadryl?” “Can I take Benadryl and Tylenol at the same time?” “Will I overdose if I take Claritin and Patanol?” There will be, in fact, at least 2 followup phone calls for every single rx she picks up, whether it be new or refills. She has even called us while she is on vacation.

When you are a pharmacist, there is no closed door to retreat behind (but the potty) when you’ve had enough. Go ahead, try… somebody will demand your attention before the aforementioned door closes…and you will again be at somebody elses beckon call. Thats what its like to be a retail pharmacist. I should have a mantle full of Oscars for the performances of a lifetime I have played out in the white coat.

This customer then asked me if they took it all away, would I go to pharmacy school again? Tougher question: Its a good thing that I was an uninformed college student when I chose Pharmacy as my major. I worked thru each quarter, one at a time, always amazed that I survived to pass on to the next one. It was harder than I had imagined…and its even harder now with the Pharm D as the entry degree. Ignorance is bliss I think. There are a lot of things that I have done in my life that were harder than I had thought when I started them. I have completed a lot of things that if I had the opportunity to repeat, I probably wouldn’t simply because I would remember the effort involved. “Glad I did it once, don’t want to do it again” might be a good motto for the things in THAT category.

I guess I didn’t have an answer for her. I dont remember exactly what I said, but in retrospect, if I was 20 years old and had my life before me, yes I’d probably do it again. If I was 45 and starting over with a new career, not so sure.

What made me write about this was the following conversation:

A nurse called me the other day on a refill auth to inform us that at the end of the month, the Dr was closing her practice. I casually asked “Having a baby?”. No, the nurse replied, she is giving up medicine to go to Law School. WHOA. Pharmacy school was one thing, that took 6 years. But Medicine? This physician likely had a dozen years or more in school and residency before she hung her shingle…and she is giving it all up. I wish I knew her well enough to ask her why.

I know the nurses name and when I go back to work next week, I am gonna call her and ask her. I’ll let you know.

For now I put the same question to you–Would YOU do it all over again? or better yet, If you were going to start over, what WOULD you do?

Thats an easier question for Pharmacy Chick–I am passionate about animals, I’d be a vet.

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A one day moratoriam on complaining..

Filed under: Uncategorized — pharmacychick at 8:49 pm on Monday, June 23, 2008

I was reading some of my old posts and I thought to myself: PC, you complain a lot. Well, yes I do, because there isn’t much of this job that is fun and uplifting to write about anymore. I actually used to like my job and used to look forward to going to work. I also used to do about 500 less rx’s per week and was allocated the same labor hours that I work with now. That means that I do almost twice the work with the same labor. No wonder I am stressed and grouchy about my job. There must be a direct correlation, ya think?

So, to reverse that trend I decided to share with you some of my favorite things today. Note, none of them will have anything to do with the pharmacy! I may go back to my bitch-fest tomorrow but for today, its happy-post day.

My favorite food: Pizza, especially pepperoni and sausage. Barbecued Ribs! Lay it on thick with some spicy sauce and I’m in heaven. I am not a sissy salad chick. Pharmacy Chick is a carnivore. I also love my mothers fried chicken. I can’t make it exactly like her, but Mr Chick says its a close second.

My favorite sound: The sound of the wind thru a stand of ponderosa pine. Nothing says ‘peace’ more than that. Its compeletely unique and different and any other wind thru trees. I hope you all can hear it someday.

My favorite smell: chocolate chip cookies cooking, bacon, and new-car-smell. I get the cookies and bacon enough but not the new-car smell….

My favorite TV: Watching baseball, Red Sox, thanks, on my HiDef Plasma TV, and anything on HGTV

My favorite person: Jesus Christ, even though I fall pretty short, he’s always there to pick me up, dust me off and send me trundling on my way.

Favorite beverages: Coke (original), Red Gatorade, Chocolate milk, Egg Nog and Grapefruit juice. Just not at the same time.

Favorite Holiday: none–I declare my own. Sometimes I will declare a day “Vacation day” and spend the day doing whatever I want, regardless of the dishes/laundry/chores whatever. Its very theraputic, try it sometimes.

Favorite Movie: White Christmas. The Chick family doesn’t do movies or network TV unless its sports.

Favorite outfit: Jeans, a cotton turtleneck and a sweatshirt for winter and just about anything for hot weather!

Favorite season: Summer–hands down. I hate the cold.

Favorite book: Harry Potter, was a late bloomer, read all 7 in succession.

Favorite snack: Potato chips and onion dip, Freshly made spicy Guacamole.

Favorite Team: Red Sox, even when they stunk.

Favorite place: I love the mountains, except the mosquitoes tho, REALLY dislike the mosquitoes. They however seem to like me. If I could live in the mountains I would, but my home ended up in the city. I also like any place where my dog can sleep with her head on my lap.

Favorite car: Lexus SC 430 Sport Coupe, my never-gonna-own dream car.

Favorite colors: Bright Red and Dusty Blue.

Favorite thing about work: Locking the doors and going home! heh heh…

All in Fun,

Pharmacy Chick

Ps, Does anybody miss Pharmacy God posting like I do?

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