Another lovely day of dealing with the public. Here's a recap:
Barely two minutes after raising the gate at the start of the day, I got a phone call from a woman looking to refill a monthly prescription less than 5 days from the last time we filled it for her. I asked if she had some left at home and if she had ever picked up the previous fill. She said she never picked it up, and she was completely out. I checked our signature records and found, not suprisingly, that she was the one that signed for it less than 5 days ago. I relayed this information to her and asked her to please check again. She put down the receiver for about a minute and then returned saying that she had found it in her medicine cabinet. For one, I don't understand how someone could forget they picked up a prescription. What's more unsettling is that she argued with me for 5 minutes that she didn't have it without even checking her medicine cabinet. Wouldn't that be the first place you look? Those are five minutes of my life I can never get back.
About a minute after I hung up the phone with that lady, I get a call from an 85-year woman looking to refill her prescription. I asked if she had her prescription number. She said yes. The next thing I heard was "BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP." Yes, she was dialing the prescription number into the phone as if I could decipher the touchtone sounds. I couldn't help but laugh. While she was dialing away, I did my best to suppress my laughter and literally started yelling into the phone, "NO, SPEAK THE NUMBER TO ME!" A hot girl who was at the counter picking up a prescription started laughing at me before rolling her eyes and walking away. Alas, the elderly woman could not hear my desperate pleas, and it took about 2 minutes before I could get her attention. I honestly think she thought she was speaking to a machine the entire time.
A little later in the day, a woman came to the counter to pick up a prescription. There was nothing unusual about her, so I barely noticed her at first. I just kept on entering in prescriptions about 15 feet away from her. Suddenly, a strange odor started to permeate my nostrils.... MOTH BALLS!!! This woman reeked so powerfully of moth balls that I could literally taste it in the air while standing all the way across the pharmacy from her. And the smell just wouldn't go away even after she left. I had to grab some Oust and deodorize the entire place.
Then there was the guy who was picking up a prescription for a 10 day course of Amoxicillin. He wanted to know if this medication was included in our special 3-month pricing for certain generic medications. I tried to explain to him that he's only going to be taking it for 10 days and that there was no need for any special pricing on it. He just stared blankly.
I suppose it wasn't all bad though. A middle aged, not terribly attractive woman who, judging by her profile, I'm pretty sure is a Vicodin junkie, told me she thinks she's in love with me because of my friendly, patient, and polite service. If you remember, the hot girl who was at the counter earlier in the day didn't think so highly of me. Story of my life...
It was a day that required alcohol... but I didn't even have any in my apartment. I ended the night sober and alone. Again, story of my life...
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6 comments:
Your story with the lady dialing the prescription number into the phone made me laugh so hard. That has to be the funniest story you've ever had on your blog.
Hilarious post!
The lady trying to speak Touch Tone to you reminds me of the futuristic cop in the Sly Stallone movie "Demolition Man." The live (not recorded) cop is on the phone, and he says:
"Thank you for calling the San Angeles Police Department. If you would like an automated response, press 1."
Mike, the nurses in my hospital ALWAYS pick up the phone before they check if they have the med. I swear, they think they have to call us to get any med, even though our reason for existing is to distribute meds.
It never fails, I check the voicemail in the morning and at least every other day there is a voicemail of beeps followed by a frustrated sigh (I presume because my voicemail is not providing conformation like the refill line does). Only once was I able to actully fill the touch tone voice mail, because the little old lady on the other end was saying the numbers as she pressed them. I also get people who hang up on me because they wanted the refill line. They call 3 or 4 times in a row and hang up then finally on the 5th call they say, "I'm trying to refill my prescription but you keep answering!"
That story about the woman 'beeping' the number into the phone made my day...as a tech, i've had my fair share of that. I've also had my fair share of people not looking in med cabinets...or just grabbing old bottles that they haven't filled in a year because they "think" they need that medicine..and the bottle is there so they "must" need it.
My personal favorite is when they come in 10 days after we fill the prescription to find that we have had to return it to stock for insurance purposes...it boggles my mind that they call in a med and then 'forget' for 10 days to come and pick it up
I think I say "Thanks for wasting my time!" about 10,000 times a day in my head after hanging up with someone calling into the pharmacy with a ridiculous question / concern.
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