When I'm the pharmacist that opens the store, I usually get there 45 minutes to an hour early. I don't do this out of dedication to my job. I do it because the time before the pharmacy opens is, without a doubt, the best part of my day.
At 7:15, the lights are off, the phones aren't ringing, there are no customers in line, no radio, no technicians or other coworkers, and no faxes coming in. It's just me and the soft glow of our flat screen monitors. The only sounds are from the laser printer spitting out prescriptions labels from our refill line and the sounds of our ScriptPro machine filling scripts. There's no rush. There's no pressure. There's no one else to mess up my organization. I'm basically free to do whatever I want.
It almost feels like the sun rises on cue with raising the pharmacy gate at 8:00 AM. I can almost hear a rooster call the second the gate goes up, but instead of a rooster call, it's almost always a phone ringing precisely at 8:00 AM. I swear that there is a whole community of our pharmacy patrons that just sit by the clock with phone in hand waiting to call the pharmacy the second it turns to 8:00. After hanging up that first phone call, I look up and, without fail, a line of at least 3 people just seems to materialize at the registers.
I think that a pharmacy is the only place where people arrive consistently early. If they're told that their prescription will be ready at 10:00 AM, they're at the pharmacy at 9:00. We tell them 30 minute wait time for new scripts, they come back in 15 minutes. However, while the act of getting to the pharmacy is consistently early, the act of calling to have their medication refilled is consistently late. They always wait until the absolute last minute to call for refills, and they're pissed off when they fail to notice there are no refills remaining, and since it's friday at 7:30 PM, their doctor will not be around to approve a refill request until Monday.
That's why I enjoy getting to the pharmacy well before it opens, and even why I don't mind staying a little while after it closes. It's about the only time I can be at work and be completely relaxed.
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"a pharmacy is the only place where people arrive consistently early"
that is actually quite funny.
you can probably add
the first place they go after work
the person they bitch to about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING, including the incompentency of their physcian while we are keeping a straight face (this happens in nursing too)
the only place they will go without a shower, brushing teeth, or changing clothes, much less underwear
a place they are particularly willing to be cheap (cause hey, I am saving for my rims, who needs say...that drug... I cant think of it right now... um... it starts with a letter that is not a vowel and ends in "lol"--yeah I am lol at how I am supposed to figure that shit out)
The only place people will discuss their extremely personal health issues loudly in the "consultation area"
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