Funny Story

Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as --Not Pharmacy--, Engrish, True Story

I’m back! Sorry for the absence…I was delayed.

Anyway, I’m telling you that only to tell you this, I’m leaving again. It’s vacation time for The Angriest Pharmacist, and I will have NO access to the website for 10 days or so. Lil’ Laura will probably post a few things, and she will tend to the comments to make sure that they get released from moderation and properly berated in bold (As I’ve begun doing lately - it’s easier than replying).

So, here’s a funny story from last night - not pharmacy. I went to the gas station to pick up some chewing tobacco. Save me your comments on the evils of nicotine. If I cared, I wouldn’t do it. Anyway, I went into a random shop and asked if they had my brand of choice. They did. So, I told the lady, who was Mexican and didn’t speak fluent English, but she knew enough to get by easily. I told her I wanted all of them. She was aghast. Who would want ALL of these little cans of dirt?

She started pulling them out, and I stopped her at 7. The rest went like this:

I’m going on vacation, and I don’t know where I’ll be.
You going on vacation and you don’t know where?
Well, I know where I’m going. I just don’t know if I’ll have access to a gas station that sells this fine product.
Well, since you gonna be lost, at least you have a lot of dirt to suck on.

I’ll be back after my ten days of sucking on dirt. See you all then!

TAestP

PS - I added a Tweet on the right sidebar. I’ll definitely send some stuff to that as hilarious/irritating things happen while I’m in paradise.

I have never been treated so horribly in my life

Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as Engrish, Rude, Stupid People, True Story, Work Sucks

An Indian guy came up to the drop-off tonite. He wanted a refill for his wife. It was for amlodipine. The bottle 6 tablets left in it. It had zero refills left. I, very nicely, told the man that it had no refills, but I printed a note to call the doctor the following morning. He asked me why I couldn’t call immediately. I told him it was 7pm, and the office was closed. He looked very discouraged and would have to call her. He grabbed his cell phone and I immediately knew where this was going. He spoke in an Indian dialect to her for a few minutes (I heard my name uttered as well). Then he tried to hand me his nasty, grubby ass phone. Side note: I refuse to talk on people’s cell phones. I hate them. They are nasty, covered with ear wax, and who knows where they have been. I quickly handed him a business card and told him she would have to call me.

She called 7 seconds later and began immediately dressing me down. I got a word or two in and told her it had no refills. I explained that her bottle had 6 tabs left. I told her if it were empty I would have no problem giving her as many tablets as she needed. I explained how we have to call doctors every day for refills and there would be no problems filling the prescription tomorrow.

Then the berating began. I heard a swear-filled mix of Hindi, English, Sailor, Bihari, Tamil, and Irish. I didn’t comprehend much of it because it was so fucking fast. I could make out the following phrases in this general order:
“I have a lifetime prescription”
“Dut dut dut”
“This is blood pressure medicine”
“Dut dut dut”
“I could die”
“Dut dut dut”
“I will sue you”
“Dut dut dut”
“You are not a pharmacist”
“Dut dut dut”
“I want to talk to the store manager”
“Dut dut dut”
“They fill this all the time without refills”
“Dut dut dut”
“Just put the pills in the bottle and shut up”

I’m sure there was more mixed in there. I don’t remember it. Much like Unwritten Law, I was “Seein’ Red” — I told her (while she was still screaming in the phone at the top of her lungs) that I didn’t deserve to be talked to like this and that I was hanging up. After a while, I did just hang up. She was no longer giving me a chance to speak. We were getting nowhere.

I went down to her husband. I told him that his wife was screaming at me at the the top of her lungs and was very rude. I told him I did not deserve to get spoken to like that. His reply? He acted like he was not shocked. “I figured she was going to do that.”

I, once again, explained the situation to him. No refills. Six tabs remaining. Filled within 18 hours. Would front tablets if needed. He just got back on the phone with her, began speaking another language, and walked off. I wanted to tell him he needed to go home and give her a good beating. People that treat others like that need a good slappin’.

She called back again. My tech got the call this time and pretty much said the exact same fucking thing. Then got off the phone.

Next time this bitch brings in a prescription to me…I am not filling it. Conincedently, I see some ordering troubles with amlodipine. I’m pawning this bullshit off on Walgreens.

Update 12-11-07: I never wrote this up, but the next time this bitch came in, I asked her why she yelled at me. [She was handing me her bottle to refill] She halfway apologized and said she was having a bad day…dut dut dut. I told her that because of her, I had a horrible day because I didn’t deserve that or enjoy having such words screamed in my ear. She then began to try and convince me I was wrong because I should have filled it - she tried to get loud. Then I said, “Hold on just one second. I’m going to talk now, and all I want you to do is listen. Don’t speak. Don’t yell. Don’t interrupt. Just listen to me. Your prescription was out of refills. Regardless of how long you have been on or will be on a medicine, when your bottle has zero refills, we have to call your doctor for more. Your bottle had 6 tablets in it that would have lasted you SIX days. It was Sunday night at 7pm so your doctor’s office was closed. I called for you the next morning and got the call back from their office that afternoon, less than 24 hours later. You never expressed a need for those tablets prior to that, and you had no reason to believe that I wouldn’t fill the prescription. You just began screaming because you refused to listen to me. That is a horrible way to act and you should never ever do that again to anyone especially someone you entrust your health care with. Now, do you have anything to say?” [Hence, say you're sorry cuntbag]

“Yes…dut dut dut…I have lifetime prescription…dut dut dut…you should have just filled it…dut dut dut…” [At this point I put up both hands as if to stop her.] “Whoa. No. No more. Here’s your bottle back. I’m no longer filling prescriptions for you at this store. You can take this bottle to any pharmacy in the country, of this chain or not, and they will fill it for you, but you are no longer welcome to get your prescriptions filled here. Goodbye.” And just like that, I walked away. I could have handled it differently. Of course, she could have just as easily apologized. I love that I have the power and free reign to tell that bitch to go fly a kite…it’s empowering and a good backup. It allows me to effectively manage. But, know this, I don’t just run people off because I can. She’s the 4th person I’ve told to never come in the last 4 or 5 years (and one of those people tried to steal a bottle of Beer by cramming it up her va-jay-jay) — The others were doctor shoppers, users, and/or abusers.

Asians are stubborn…

Posted by The *Angriest* Pharmacist as Engrish, Stupid People, Work Sucks

I know I know…you’re thinking, “WHO THE FUCK DOES THIS GUY THINK HE IS?”

Today, I spoke Engrish with a lady for 10 minutes. It took me a while, but I figured out that her mother had the sniffles and a deep, hacking chest cough.

My suggestion was generic Benadryl and generic Robitussin-DM. She was very happy with my choices. She asked my about the name brands. I told her that the generics were the SAME THING (samm-ting) and there was no reason to spend the extra money. She spoke crappy English, but she understood me when I told her that generics were not inferior products.

I went back to my dungeon. I watched this bitch put both the diphenhydramine and guaifenesin/dextromethorphan back and exchanged them for Benadryl KAPSEALS and Robitussin-DM…at 10 times the price.

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

This exact same thing has happened twice in the past week with Asian-born customers.

I guess were they’re from if it’s not the most expensive, it’s not worth a shit.