Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Dear god, the helplessness.

Some days, I swear, if my customers get any more helpless we'll have to install a moving sidewalk.

Tonight a customer who apparently couldn't be bothered to listen to his wife explaining what medications he's to pick up has to wait while I rummage for bags (one of which, surprise surprise, didn't exist yet), and begins whining while I rummage.

"I just... *emo kid whimper*, I don't know, I... I hate this. I hate all this... medicine stuff. I wish she wouldn't make me do it. I wish my wife would just do it herself and leave me out of it."

By this point I'd figured out that his wife's second medication wasn't available because a prescription must actually be able to be filled (aka: have refills on it) in order for it to be, you know, filled.

This concept took far more explanation than it should have.

"Look, just... just do whatever you need to so I can get her medicine and go home. I wish she wouldn't make me do this crap. [ctd. ad nauseum]"

"I'm sorry sir, but since your wife has no refills left on this prescription, I can't have it ready for her tonight. We'll have to get the doctor's office to authorize refills."

"But... *emo kid whimper* what do you mean?"

"Without refills, we can't give her any medicine. There aren't any refills left, so we have to call the doctor's office, and they're gone now." (It was about 6:30 PM and a non-essential. No E-supply option on something we'd have to break pack to give.)

Then came the kicker:

"But... But... I just. Well, wait. She gave me some other damn thing here..." and he pulls a new Rx out of wallet with a post-it note on it: "Drop this off to be filled. Pick up this and [other medicine] together."

I came about thisclose to telling him "All this medical crap" would probably go a lot easier if he'd stop whining about his wife and start listening *to* his wife, but thankfully I didn't. But how much plainer does "Drop this off first" get?

Tacking on: After he left, I shared his thoughts about his wife "making him do this crap" with the other tech and the pharmacists on duty tonight. The older of the two (married for 30+ years) didn't miss a beat. "That's called marriage!" The other pharmacist, married for about a year replied, "Yeah, really!"

3 comments:

  1. Sounds like he needs to see a neurologist. Either that or a marriage counselor.

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  2. I want to know what the *emo kid whimper* sounds like! You have me in suspenders!

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  3. Know that whiny "humph" sound some children will use as a precourser to a complete fit over not getting candy/a new toy/a pony? Sometimes old women will use the same sound to illustrate how much PAAAAIIINN they're in and how they NEEEEDD that early Vikodinz refill Riiiightt Noooow!!! (It's sort of half way between a sigh and a sob.)

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