Understanding the world — what we take for granted
[Understand that I am not talking about those with mental disabilities, deficiences, or issues. I will not allow any comments defending someone with a learning disability because that is NOT who I am talking about. That is NOT who I am discussing at in this post, and you should get that through YOUR thick head before you move forward. If you can't read this post without feeling the need to tell me about your third-cousin with a "professionally diagnosed learning disability" keeping him from learning and how he can't help it, move on. I'm not making fun of the disabled, I'm making fun of the stupid, lazy, apathetic OAFS out there. Yet some will still feel the need to comment....Please don't!]
Wow, it's amazing how stupid people in the USA have become. It's well known that the average reading level is 8th grade. This story shows that for every educated, intelligent person out there, someone has to be remarkably thick to balance out the world. Someone has to slow the rest of us down. I've finally met the antithesis to a NASA rocket scientist.
Just the other day (in between doing transfers from Walgreens) I was approached by an older lady. She wore short hair -- very untidy. It wasn't unclean, mind you, it just had the Dr. Emmett Brown style about it. Her hair, at one time in her life, must have been jet black. Now, it was on its way to silver and white. On her right cheek, she wore a giant stylish mole...or maybe it was a tick...I couldn't be certain. It wasn't something you could stare at without repulsion. The most noticible aspect above her neck, however, was the mustache worn on her upper lip. As thick as mine in quantity, each individual hair was still thin like that of a teenage boy still going through puberty.
Her long sleeve shirt was pink. I'm not sure what to call the material, but I would liken it to a pair of long-underwear I have for deer hunting. It's kinda of a waffle texture. On the front of it, there was no stylish design....just the imprint of two massive, saggy, dangling, bra-less boobs. They were so large, it seemed unnallowed. They were so droopy, it seemed nauseating. Disgustingly enough, in the right shirt, they might be visible out the bottom as I'm sure this lady has no concept of what a bra even is, much less used for and where to procure one.
The question she posed was simple enough. "Do you have any Vicks inhalers? Where is it?" I led her over to where they are stocked, and I explaned that we were, at the time out of the Vicks brand but had plenty of our store brand. She told me that was fine, and that she always buys the cheaper brand. Taking this cue, I went on with the normal explanation of rebound congestion telling her that she must be careful not to overuse et cetera. "You should always limit the use of these over the counter nasal sprays to 7 days or less."
At this point, she looked at me curiously. It bordered on that look we all know and love -- the one that a patient gives you when they believe you to be lying to them. [Because I benefit from NOT selling items and NOT filling prescriptions...]
Assuming this meant a lack of understanding, I rephrased my words and repeated.
Then, after she said, "It always works for me!" I said, "Well, generally, if you use this too often for a stuffy nose, it can actually make your congestion worse. It only works for a week, then it stops working..."
With as much facial contempt she could muster in her expression, she handed it back to me. And, with a tone of hate she said to me, "Just put it back then. I'll have my boyfriend go get me one at Walgreens."
I was taken aback at the boldness, and then I gave up. You can't argue with the stupid. They will win every time...in their mind. You will lose because you change nothing...like in this instance....
I let her walk away. I'm sure I mumbled, "Well, good luck with that." I'm sure she thought, in her mind, the store brand I offered bore a side effect rendering it worthless after a week, but the 19-year old cashier at Walgreens never mentioned such a thing!
Oh, to live in such oblivion...to hear the world, understand nothing, and ignore it as gibberish rather than strive for understanding. I couldn't stand it. Even in daily conversation -- hearing a word that doesn't make sense or a product name I cannot remember drives me mad. I rush to my phone or computer so that I can look it up. The things I take for granted. The things we take for granted.
I have reached the big time
[I know this is not the post I teased -- I'm still working on it. I have some friends I want to get with for comment, consideration, and thoughts before I click Publish]
I was walking through the mall tonight, and there it was -- right in front of me. There was a very pretty college-aged girl standing there, wearing one of the t-shirts I created and sell. It was white, long-sleeved, and said on the front "Can't afford your copayment? ... Let me have 10 of your cigarettes." [It also showed 10 cartoon cigarettes scattered about]
My face lit up like a kid a Christmas, although she wouldn't notice me in such a crowded place.
As she turned and walked away from me, I smiled when I saw:
Last year, for Christmas, a non-pharmacist friend bought me what he thought was the "perfect gift." He told me not to get him anything -- it was just a trinket that he found on the internet that I would enjoy. A few days after Christmas we met up for lunch and he handed me this mug. I smiled and thanked him cordially, but I didn't tell him the full truth. He bought me a mug I sold him...So, I got the mug AND a royalty fee...:-)
Of course, this now gives me the perfect opportunity to hock my stupid shirts, but I'm not going to waste it. I'm proud of some of them -- while some of them are complete crap. However, since it is very close to Christmas again, and I have noticed a recent upswing in sales. I'll share the main link to the page, the best of my gallery / highest sellers, and give you the opportunity to check them out...or not...whatever...
The Angriest Pharmacist Main StoreFront
Best Seller: "Your doctor had one semester of pharmacology..."
Lady's Choice: "I married a pharmacist..."
TAestP's Personal Favorites: "Not good with Advice" - "Believe and Doubt" -
"Pharmacist: ALL things to ALL People ALL of the time!"
Recently sold 10 to University of the Pacific's Admissions Dept: "There are two people..."
Favorite of asshole men (like me): "I have a doctorate in pharmacy..."
Best selling inanimate object: "Pharmacist Blend..."
Stupid Patient Excuses: "Believe me, I've heard it ALL..."
Toddler's Favorite: "Daddy sells drugs..." or "My dad sells Norco and Soma to losers..."
Fibromyalgian's Favorite: "Fibromyalgia..." and "Fatsomyalgia"
Most likely to be bought the The Angry Pharmacist: "Fuck off...I'm drinking" or "Alcohol"
Most likely to be bought by @PimpinPills: "It's the fanclub I can't stand..."
or "These don't fill the prescription..."
So, that was a little longer that I would've liked. I guess I'm just proud of my silly shit. Thanks for looking. Have a good one...
Two months worth of reader email
Sorry, I've been....deficient the last two months. I'm not going to promise any more, but I can tell you this. I will have a response for Mr. Plagakis pretty soon. Don't expect anything revolutionary. Don't expect anything mindblowing. Just expect a clear, concise response. Naught but the truth. I also want to look back at some older posts in which he referenced me about releasing steam (in a hilarious masturbation simile) and how/why the post titled, "Jay Pee catches Wal-Mart peeping through the window" relates directly to all of it...
Below, I'm going to post several different things that came to me via email or the CONTACT link. I'll lead with the user's name, and if you wish to reply to one, just reference that name....or don't...I don't care...
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Liz writes: In the past few weeks, our pharmacy has started checking ID for controlled drugs, scanning in new Rx and scanning in hard copies. All of a sudden, our workload has tripled, but our company is cutting tech help. Is anyone else finding this hard to manage?
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Rodney writes: I work as a reimbursement specialist at an LTC Pharmacy, and I'm writing to share an interesting exchange I've had with representatives at Prescription Solutions over the past few days.
I've had a few basic rejections which, were the representatives at Prescription Solutions even modestly intelligent by today's decidedly low standards, should have been able to resolve with much rapidity. Instead, I got stuck with slack-jawed yokels and embittered, defensive inner-city youth. They turned requests for overrides to simple rejections into drawn out, unintelligible arguments, and once they'd been cornered or otherwise became bored with the exchange, they hung up on me mid-sentence.
I may not be the bubbliest person in the world. On the contrary, I'm frank and to the point, but never did I become enraged, and never did I insult or otherwise disrespect the reps in any way. Prescription Solutions - hell, the insurance industry as a whole - has no shortage of stupid, rude, and disinterested people, but I've never had any with the gall to abruptly hang up on a service call. Now, over the past two days, it has happened to me four times.
Though I feel somewhat vindicated by the fact that return calls yielded exchanges with intelligent reps who applied the necessarily overrides with absolutely no hassle, I am perturbed by this sudden shoddy treatment. I know PS has seen extraordinarily long hold times as of late, what are the odds the reps have been granted free reign to terminate calls from "problem callers" (that is, of course, callers who question the rep's ill-informed initial judgment)?
Any thoughts? Similar experiences?
[TAestP's thoughts: I believe the reasoning behind this is, as always, money. When the question is, "Why?" most of the time, the answer is money. In this case, I'd bet if you timed your calls, you got hung up on at specific intervals....something like 3 minutes, 59 seconds. If the agents keep their calls (or a certain percentage) less than 4 minutes, they probably get higher ratings or a bonus at the end of the day. They may also have rewards/cut offs at 10 minutes or 15 minutes. Of course, the person could have just been an asshole, accidentally hung up, or hung up on you because they are lazy and/or didn't know the answer.]
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Lillian writes: I found your blog a few days ago and I love it so far. From your posts, you seem to know a lot about retail pharmacy so I was wondering if you could answer a question for me: Is it true that the field is getting very saturated, very quickly?
A few of my professors warn us that it will be much harder to find a job in retail by the time we graduate (2016). And I've been hearing a lot of people saying that retail is going downhill.
I know there will be more competition for the jobs in several years because of there are more students going into pharmacy now. And I get the feeling that maybe one of my professors is exaggerating the situation to encourage us to go into other pharmacy fields. But do you think this saturation is something to be seriously be worried about?
For the record, I would try to go into retail no matter what the situation is...I just don't want to be completely caught off guard after graduation.
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Kristin Writes:
Dear TAestP,
I know someone who filled a Rx at a CVS. The pharmacist later called and texted her saying "Remember me from CVS? Would love to get coffee with you some time?--Weirdasspharmacist [sic] " She responded that she wasn't interested. She didn't get any more fills there, but she was afraid of contacting his manager or pharmacy baord because CVS had her information on file and the pharmacist could look it up and perhaps do something scary like stalking.
TAestP, what would you recommend doing?
[TAestP's thoughts: If this is true, it is creepy as hell. You are right that CVS would have the info, and he would have access to it. But, he's already pretty much risked his license by doing this -- taking it from creepy to full on stalking would definitely result in a meeting with his state's Board of Pharmacy. If he is not the pharmacy manager at that location, I would call and speak with the pharmacy manager about the incident. Tell her it made you (or her) uncomfortable and that you would like the manager to give your information to their district manager so he/she can call you at their earliest convenience. Then discuss the matter with the DM. I'd be almost anything this would squash absolutely any issue -- cause that DM does NOT want you making a formal complaint with the board. If he is the manager at that store, call a nearby store's pharmacy manager and do the exact same thing. If this does not get you to an ends that you are happy with -- or you get blown off at any level -- google the state's board of pharmacy. One call to them with an accusation like this would definitely result in an investigation and something would be done. Tell your friend I'm sorry my text creeped her out -- she's not gonna like the photos I'm sending tonight....just kidding of course.....:-D]
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Mike writes: so...i witnessed a patient ingest 90mg of methadone...the patient's prescribed dose was 40mg...i gave him the wrong bottle
i'm getting kicked out of pharmacy school 4 months before graduation...what do i do now? should i submit my resume to the nearest McDonald's?
[TAestP's Thoughts: Either this is untrue and you're trying to waste my time, you're just a general dumb ass, or you have done a ton of other stupid bullshit. Regardless of what anyone may think, there is only one person responsible for what pill goes out the door and into the hands of a patient -- the pharmacist on duty. I don't care if the technician accidentally typed in Oxycodone instead of Omnicef for an infant, I still believe the ultimate responsibility should lay on the pharmacist that verified the prescription. (intentional bullshit and other types of lying and deceit aside -- I'm talking about true accidents by ancillary staff not caught by the pharmacist) However, it does sound like you are in some other kind of facility or setting. Since you witnessed the patient do it -- not sure what that means as a patient should never be handed a pill by pharmacy staff to take -- that changes the role from dispensing to administering which we cannot do (in terms of pills).
If the school threw you out, and this is a true story, you're probably fucked. Sorry dude. I guess you could appeal and plead to the school, but that's the thing with private universities, they can do whatever the hell they want whenever the hell they want. Other than that, see if another school will take you or get a lawyer....or get a job and good luck paying back all those loans....]
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That'll do for now....check back for the next post coming soon....
Random Musings Concerning The Last Week’s Pharmacy Meanderings
1. Monday, I had a lady come up to the counter and ask where I carried the "Lacklend, Lacklyn, or Lacklin -- something like that." [I asked her for some possible spellings] After searching, I was pretty sure she was looking for Lac-Hydrin...possibly Lansinoh which is Lanolin. I presented these findings to her along with a product list of the various sizes of Lac-Hydrins. At this point, she became adamant that it was "LackLend" and that I wasn't looking right. At this point, I told her I thought I remembered them having the product on sale at a specialty pharmacy that is about 45 minutes away. Since she didn't bother to call me, I can only hope she drives all the way there to get the product. Either listen to reason or get told complete bullshit.
2. Had a very rotund person (never seen her before -- so not a regular) came in and ask me about getting a shingles vaccine as she did not want to catch it from any of her friends. I told her that it was in no way contagious. She goes on to say that 2 or 3 of her friends have it or have had it and that her doctor told her that "IT. WAS. CONTAGIOUS!" I told her that "I will back off my previous statement a very small bit -- If a person comes into contact with a shingles rash, for instance if they are covering the wounds and come into contact with the actual seeping wound, they could potentially catch CHICKENPOX if they had not previously had CHICKENPOX or the CHICKENPOX Vaccination. Shingles, meaning the form of chickenpox that comes back up later in life and causes serious pain, cannot be transmitted from on person to another." [Source: http://www.immunize.org/askexperts/experts_zos.asp] Her response was a steadfast, "Well, my doctor doesn't agree. He says you can get it from anyone that has shingles on their skin or has ever had it."
At this point, I once again took the position of not giving a fuck. Either listen to reason or go away. I told her, "If your doctor is telling you this, and he is serious, I think you need to get a new doctor. As I can print out several different papers and references in just a few minutes that would disprove that notion."
Her response was, nothing less than I expected, "Maybe I should get a new pharmacist..." I just sad, in a trailing voice but loud enough for her to full figure out what I PROBABLY said, "I think you should do that you stupid fat bitch..." Believe me...she was being a standoffish, stupid, fat bitch.
3. Had a lady come to pick up a refill for, of course, Xanax. It was later in the night -- slowed down immensely. I was completely caught up and actually listening to the radio a bit. She came to the pickup window, I looked up her name and immediately saw that we had requested refills, and we had not heard back. She looks me right in the eye and says, "Is it in you box? I mean...can you check your box?...Is it in your box?" I really wanted to say, "Why no, have you checked YOUR BOX? I'm sure we could hide a set of car keys in there!" Instead, she goes into a long diatribe about how a 3 months ago she came to pick up her refill and we told her it wasn't called it...only to find out that after she drove "all the way to the doctor's office," [a gas-chugging 4-5 minutes away] "it was sitting on the counter as there was a problem with it." [The doctor faxed it back sans signature] So, I stand by the statement that the doctor hadn't really done his job! At that juncture, we had faxed them back for ANOTHER Auth. Today, I told her that our inBOX didn't receive prescriptions (just email). She asked me to check our voicemail BOX, and I told her I didn't need to as our number of VMs is displayed on screen [I had ZERO]. No other BOXes to check...cept yours, biggun'!
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