Name: Louise
Email: REDACTED@aol.com
Website: http://Angriestpharmacist
Message: My son is in his 4/6 of pharmacy school.  He failed (d) in one class lest semester, and is failing another.  What now, the school only allows you two failures.  What can he become whIth the classes he has already taken?  Help. Thanks

Time: Thursday December 20, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Contact Form URL: http://www.theangriestpharmacist.com/contact/
Sent by an unverified visitor to your site.

-=+=-

I cannot imagine a scenario where contacting the proprietor of a website named THE ANGRIEST PHARMACIST in regards to my child's grades / education / future seems like the right decision to make. [The AOL.COM email address says enough.] How many other people should you contact before you get to INTERNET BLOGS on the list of outlets to turn to? Let's see:  the professor, TA's for the class, the student's adviser, dean's office, student affairs office, ANOTHER school's admission's office, OTHER parents with kids at the school, and I'm sure I missed some. All this, of course, would come AFTER kicking this kid's ass for screwing around and partying too much.

Instead, she contacts me...assuming I understand the policies at WHATEVER school and know the classes he HAS taken and passed so I can help plan his future FOR HIM.

Would you ever turn to me for anything? Let's hope not.

I've got better things to do, and I really don't think that is in a pharmacist's or patient's best interests.

Fuck you kindly,
TAestP

Note to self:
It is illegal to stab people for being STUPID!

This is completely true...unfortunate...but true!

View all the funny shirts/stuff I have created at my online store.

Thanks,

The Angriest Pharmacist
@TAestP

Think of a line. Point A to Point B. The straight line between these two points can be of a short or significant distance. It doesn't really matter. Point A is where you currently are, and Point B is where you will end up should you continue along the line.

As a "rule of thumb," one degree off course, over a 60-mile trek finds you one mile away from your destination. The point here must be easy to see -- we are constantly heading towards Point B. Regardless of your political views or opinions, you can see the concept. We are heading toward Point B. Now, you may not see Point B clearly as none of us has a real crystal ball, but we are going toward a Point B.

You may desire an alternate end point (which is your right and prerogative), but you aren't going to get there without hard work and effort. When it comes to MASSIVE ships (such as the United State of America), huge changes are not only illogical, they are downright naive and sometimes impossible to 'navigate.'

What *is* possible are small changes -- miniscule course corrections. Over time, even tiny changes can make a world of difference. You must focus on the change of 'just a degree' if you wish to get to the result you would like.

Are you a leader? Are you passionate enough to make the necessary decision for the greater good and the wise enough to accept that you may never see your "Point B"? Just one degree may change the world.

Over a month ago, Jim Plagakis, a.k.a. JP a.k.a. JP at Large posted on his website, a call for me to release my name / information out to the web,  and "Join the revolution with both feet." He preceded that by listing a number of the other blogs/sites out there that many of you read/check on a daily basis. I myself check all the various sites at least weekly or bi-monthly.

He points back to the first meeting of The Pharmacy Alliance (TPA) held in Galveston. He says that I wrote every morning about the event [IN DETAIL], and the information I posted could have only come from someone at that meeting -- and therefore in that photo.

Bad news, fella. I wasn't there. I'm not in that photo. I've never even been to Galveston. As far as posting about the events of the meeting, I don't remember that either. I've racked my brains, scoured my old posts (even the virus filled version 1 site from the original iteration of TheAngriestPharmacist.com), and even asked a friend to search around for me. This produced very little.

I have posted about TPA several times -- as a category and tag -- I even referenced in a post that I was, at the time maintaining the website for JP. It was wordpress, same as this site, so I cleaned it up, added some plugins, inserted some logos, and helped where I could. While I still "technically" have access, I have not touched the site in years. But, I really don't think I posted about the events in detail.

This website is "version 2.0" and several posts were lost due to that virus, some were deleted, and others were time-relevant when posted and therefore stupid to re-publish as I ported over. Maybe these posts you speak of were in there, regardless, I don't remember posting about your meetings.

I did make a donation at time point. I did receive a pamphlet / booklet sent to me with a bunch of stories and information in it -- that JP himself typed up. I may have posted about it -- but not in depth as I can't remember much about it.

Now to the meat and potatoes of what you want and what you would like. You suggest that, because all of these other bloggers are public, and therefore assume they therefore have not had any ill repercussions, I should be logical and step forward. But I ask you to weigh that which *I* have to gain, and that which *I* have to lose.

First you must understand that I'm not writing fun, cutesy anecdotes like what we find in Drug Topics when we turn to JP at Large. The content of my posts, and those at which I point the finger, is not always in a very good light. In the past, I was even worse -- I like to think that I'm a bit calmer these days. At least, I don't completely go after and destroy people as I had done in the past. I talked to and treated people much worse. While I'm still not cordial, I'm happy enough with my tone. Yet, it's still not something I'd want my boss to read. And I certainly don't want to be in a position where I'm seeking future employment only to be faced with printouts of my posts, questions of my content, or other types of allegations regarding these posts. Much as emails never die -- I don't want hasty posts written in my 20's to damage by 40's.

Another reason that I wish to stay anonymous rests in some of the other content of the site. I have stories galore -- about patients. Of course I changed names, sexes, and sometimes much more -- to keep the original theme there, but if a patient stumbled on to this site, saw my real name/picture, read a story and recognized it as being a conversation we had, and became upset at the way I posted or responded to the inquiry, I'd be in a heap of trouble. HIPAA Violations. Potential Lawsuits. Public Embarrassment from receiving the previous two.

I also wish to stay in the shadows because people are freaking crazy these days. If your name is on the internet, your facebook address is findable. If your facebook is found, your photos are usually accessible (Zuckerberg's private photos just got found and shared). If your photos are found, your family's photos are available to the same lunatics. Then your address and phone number aren't far behind. Why would I want to even open myself up to that chance? I see that JP has, even recently, posted his address on his website. What's to keep someone from showing up there? What would keep a really crazy person in love with Jodie Foster showing up and shooting you in the shoulder? :-)

Obviously, you and I have completely different circumstances. I'm not yet 30. You started your blog when you were much later in your career (yet I know you wrote for years and years -- I've got the books). Over a great number of years, you have grown your site into a very respected blog, a monthly column in Drug Topics (a magazine I would LOVE to write for monthly as 'TAestP' but they would never let me! I asked Margaret way back when who really considered me. I contact Julianne some time ago as well, and she told me to send in stories -- yet they will not be published even on the DT Blog, much less in an issue), several successful books, and one that holds pretty big following! Meanwhile, In a few short years (My first post ever was 02-05-2007), I have grown a respectable amount of viewers, 1500 followers on twitter, nearly 1500+ facebook followers,  and I was scientifically proven to be, "The most vitriolic pharmacy blogger of all time" in an article published in the American Journal of Health System Pharmacy. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21098377)   [Based on the number of swears, content of posts, technorati rating, and some other things I'm sure]

Finally, and in my opinion most importantly, if I were to announce my true self to the world, no one would give a shit what I have to say. I really think that, if people would come to this site and read the posts, they'd say to themselves, "Screw this guy -- he's just some whiny little bitch that works at a Rite-Aid in Texarkana or a Wal-mart in Altanta. As  The*Angriest*Pharmacist, I'd like to believe that I can have a much larger reach -- a wider influence. My opinion will actually be heard and maybe even taken into account. If it were just me -- going by my real name + nickname -- I really think my daily number of hits and views would drop dramatically. Yet, at the same time, I think the reverse may be true. I can at least humor the other side...While I may, as TheAngriestPharmacist, be heard by more people, as an anonymous voice,  I may not be considered as reputable. Voices without a face and letters without a signature are sometimes (hell, usually!) taken as invalid -- the old argument of "sign your name if you're proud of what you say..."

But..I am proud of this site. I'm proud of what I have to say. I'm proud of the things I've said and accomplished in the past. [I've removed hopefully all of the posts of which I'm not proud] I'm proud that I've grown this site from a site that had zero traffic to a sizeable readership tho not near the size of some others. I'm proud that I grew beyond TheAngryPharmacist's jabs at me -- to the point that we actually get along and discussed another joint venture (I outgrew responding to the jabs -- I'll never outgrow receiving them, as there are certain readers that will never grow beyond that simple isolated thought.)

At this point in my life (as I said, I'm not even 30 years old yet), I think I'd rather be widely heard anonymously and risk not being considered as valid than share my opinion as a unimportant, named public figure and not be considered relevant or important. I'm happy with the way things are.

BTW, I'm not alluding myself that I'm ACTUALLY anonymous. I know for a fact that if you wanted to know bad enough, you could find my information. You could find out who I was. Hell, it was accidentally posted publicly for several weeks a number of years ago before someone told me and I was able to take it down. I have protected against this from happening in the future -- mainly with added security. I also have an additional trusted admin that will take care of anything and everything for me -- on this site or all my social networking sites. For instance, if I were to die suddenly, he will post information about that on this site. That way, you can mourn the loss of ME! :-D  He also knows to take the site down if anything goes negatively viral or something crazy happens while I am not available to shut it down or address it myself. He has all passwords, God-Mode Access, and most importantly, my trust.

I've got a new T-Shirt in honor this very post:

http://www.zazzle.com/who_is_the_angriest_pharmacist_who_cares_tshirt-235622071840053220

Who is The Angriest Pharmacist? WHO CARES. HE SUCKS!

Building on the content of my last post, passion is most desirable in our future. We must have passion for our ideals -- otherwise why would we make the decision to be brave, stand up, and fight for them? Why would an individual set out to change the world without passion lighting his path?

It is the passionate that will be our future leaders, Governors, Presidents. And I don't care if I agree with them or not -- so sinslong as they are passionate about their causes, our country, and the future. I'll take one passionate man against 50 interested blokes any day of the week. The passionate man will get more done and for the right reasons every time.

I have passions in my life (outside of my wife and pharmacy). They drive me. They drive me to be better, inspire me to be brave, and pull me back on course when I waiver. As I sit here, I hope that you can find your passion in life. Maybe your passion is for an issue currently being neglected in your state, or handled (or NOT handled) as you would like it by our federal government, maybe it's an organization doing good work in your county. NO MATTER -- FIND IT. You owe it to your self. You owe it to your neighbor.

But, promise me this. Promise you this. Don't find this passion only to say, "I'm just one person. I'm too small to change it ... I'm too small to fix it ... I'm too unimportant to get involved." YOU AREN'T.

As I made abundantly clear on the 4th of July. Remember the Power of One. One person can change the world.

Let me rephrase.

One passionate person can change the world.

One passionate person can do *anything*.

There is no bravery without fear. The two are mutually exclusive. Without fear to overcome, a hero isn't being brave he's just...well...being. The exhibition of bravery requires the acceptance of fear and a willingness to overcome it. Still, the term brave doesn't have to be reserved for our soldiers risking their lives on the front lines or firemen running towards a burning building as the masses run to safety. The meekest of men can be brave -- or rather -- decide to be brave.

That's the thing with bravery -- it requires a decision. It is not necessarily an unconscious decision either. While the bravest of men may have faced down their demons and fears a hundred times over -- to the point that gallantry is second nature to them -- it still requires that decision. That split second of thought in one's own mind: Courage or Cowardice. Each time. The call to be brave and lead must be answered.

I would argue that the decision is the most difficult part in the process of bravery. Once the nerve has been struck-up and the long march has begun, the hard part is over. That first step (and the decision to take it) is what separates brave from timid. So what possesses the daring, the bold, and the tenacious to make the decision to step up, step out, stand tall? The power of one.

One thought...One idea...One person. One person can change the world. In the United State of America, it is the individual that holds the power. It is the people that give the government its power to govern. It is our right to change any part of this process. The most precious right we have -- the power of the vote.

Taking it a step further, all it takes is one person with a desire for change. One person can change the country. One person can change the world. The process is in place. The stage is set. The crowd is waiting...America is waiting. If you don't believe that one person can change the world, you're not only living in the wrong country, you're not paying attention. One President has set his sights on healthcare and the way this country cares for the sick. One Justice went left instead of right to keep this healthcare bill alive (and make it legal). One person reading this post may be inspired and become the next Governor of (insert state). The one person writing this post has changed the world in ways his readers will never know -- all because of his passion for this country and hope for the future of this country.

We need more people in this country to believe in the power of one. It is this belief, and steadfast faith in this experiment we call the United States of America, that we as a country need right now. The need for leaders has never been so acute. I challenge all young people in this country to accept their fears, face them, and be brave. Stand up as a nation or prepare to be forever told to sit down. We need you.

America needs you.

That's right ladies and gentleman, The*Angriest*Pharmacist has jumped shipped in search of greener pastures, and I found them. I got a "desk job." I'm still in pharmacy, of course, and I'm actually using MORE of my knowledge now than I *EVER* did in retail-land.

The days are still long. I still have to deal with stupidity -- just not the stupidity of the masses. I only deal with healthcare practitioners now. For the most part, I'm treated with respect all-day every-day. My supervisors are pharmacists and not full of shit. While they focus on numbers (and are pushed by upper management to focus on numbers), I know they wouldn't do anything illegal, immoral, or even amoral to reach those goals. In the retail world, many a district manager would sell his own mother to a Dothraki hoard to hit his numbers. That's the biggest factor that drove me from retail. Misplaced focus.

Oh..and I have a set schedule -- set shift. I can tell you right now what I work in December. You have no idea how nice that is. I can plan trips/events easily. I can trade and swap to squeeze the most out of my PTO. Hard to do that in a small pharmacy with only 1 or 2 other pharmacists.

Neener neener neener...

Let the insults and admonitions begin. I can take it.

"dallas" posted on 2/19/12 a comment to The Crap People Send Me (originally posted on 5/10/11).

 As a refresher, "The Crap People Send Me" was a letter from a "pharmacy technician" "suffering from migraines." Here "PCP" was "treating" her "migraines" with Oxycontin and Roxycodone. She "found" a prescription in her "cookie jar" for Percocet. This "pharmacy technician" wanted to know if this "prescription" would show up on her profile at her "regular pharmacy" -- because she filled it as "cash" somewhere else. She asked her "dad" who is "an RPH" and couldn't get a straight answer.

Everything stinks about the letter. Every. Single. Thing. I'd bet less than 10 words of truth existed in this original email from "Pat." After 38 comments to this post, "dallas" decides to chime in...

I am so disturbed that any one of you are working in the medical field and are Pharmacists, you have no business taking care of sick people w/your cutting words. I completely agree with Aura and she seems to be the only person w/reason. I came upon this site looking for other options to taking a narcotic for brain aneurysm aftercare headaches and WOW! You are entitled to your opinion but name calling is unacceptable and i truly hope, or better yet maybe i will submit this site to the pharmacy board so they can get rid of all of you non-compassionate so called caring professionals. Quit the name calling and having sooo much fun assuming you know all this person has been thru and do the job you are PAID very well to do. disgusting behavior and i am thankful i am nothing like any one of you!

I don't know why "dallas" feels the need to defend such despicable behavior. That's dumb enough, but for her to think she is going to "submit this site to the pharmacy board" it tremendously ignorant. It's laughable. First of all, there has been around 35 different commenters to this post. I'm sure that if you wanted it bad enough, you theoretically COULD submit your pissant comment to all 50 state boards of pharmacy, but what are you going to tell them? Even if they do read it, how will you sound? "Dear UTAH BoP, please go to TheAngriestPharmacist.com -- There's a post from a real drunk pharmacy technician named Pat. She admitted to several crimes then asked TheAngriestPharmacist if she was going to get caught. What I would like to draw your attention to is the amount of mean name calling from all the doodie heads on the website. I would like you to revoke the pharmacist license for the following people: TheAngriestPharmacist, Drunken Agnostic, hi, nicole, brian, crappypharmacist, etc. Thank you for your time, dallas"

Honestly, could a person be any more retarded? You think I'm gonna just for over server logs and records outlining everyone who posts on the site? You think I'm gonna be helpful to a search like that? Or, do you think I'm going to NSA wipe my server and replace the website with fetish porn just to be a cocksucker? Ding Ding Ding!

It's like people have no concept of anonymity, privacy, and secrecy. I guess the average idiot believes that because they browse the web and interact with the internet on a full-name-no-filter basis that we all must do the same. Therefore, anytime someone on the internet does something impertinent, wrong, or rude, all you must do is notify the nearest constable who will turn on his interweb box, ask the webmaster of the internets who uses the code name "DAVE" and then call Dave's dad who will then punish him for saying rude things. It's also ultra naive to think that a BoP will even bother reading a complaint stemming from something posted on MY fucking website. I bet they don't get a sentence into it before discussing how much they enjoy reading my site...so suck on that, dallas.

 -=+=-

Next we have Ang responding on 1/18/12 to Doctor Shopping and Insurance Fraud and Asshat Patients -- Oh my from  3/22/11 with:
There are several issues here. First of all, pharmacists do not have the authority to determine whether a crime was committed or not. By accusing her of such publicly (to the other pharmacies) you opened the pharmacy that employs you (not to mention yourself) up to a big fat lawsuit. You may have seen this as a cut and dry case, but no matter how transparent the crime, it is only at the discretion of the criminal justice system that a person be charged with, and found guilty of a crime. You went about this the wrong way, and I will be bringing this to the attention of proper authorities. They can easily identify you using your IP.

My immediate response: Go fuck yourself you little asshat. Do you think that I did something like that standing in the middle of the pharmacy where all could here? What if that story isn’t even true? This is an anonymous blog. I could be anywhere in the world talking to anyone in the world. Give me a fucking break… Which organization do you plan on running the manhunt for the rogue pharmacist being mean to a patient?

I would like to note again that this stupid comment from this ignorant fuck was nearly a YEAR after the post was originally made. Secondly, I would like to note that a licensed physician graced this post with a lengthy response where he identified and discussed many things...the most important being the statement, "THE PHARMACIST DID THE RIGHT THING."

Ang would lead us to believe that pharmacist's cannot determine if a crime was committed -- I guess it's pretty silly us taking all those law courses and certifcations then isn't it. I wouldn't know a crime if it slapped me in the face, I just spend a year studying pharmacy law in school...you idiot bastard! Then, this poster has the audacity to throw out the "you opened yourself up to a lawsuit," bullshit. Today's sue-happy litigation-frenzied society needs to erase this type of shit from their vocabulary. You make yourself look stupid and your kids are just gonna pick up even more bad habits and idiotic ideas. Here are the facts. Crimes were committed. Not only do I have the training and knowledge to recognize that, I have the fucking proof. In addition to that, I am the star witness for the prosecution. The only thing the DA needs from me in this instance to turn this case into a slam-dunk conviction is a fucking phone call alerting them that it happened. From there, I'll accept it's out of my hands. Judge, Jury, Executioner....whatever...but to even hint that I'm not involved is just plain ignorant. Also to claim that I or my company is at risk of a lawsuit for calling a thief a thief or a liar a liar whilest having the evidence in hand is also pretty fucking ignorant, Ang. (If you're keeping score, you've yet to share anything NOT utterly retarded). The final statement you've left us with is a veiled threat. TAestP did something that *you* interpret as "wrong" so *you* are gonna tell the proper authorities who can find me by "using my IP."

First off, YOU DO NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO DETERMINE WHETHER A CRIME WAS COMMITTED OR NOT. BY ACCUSING ME, PUBLICALLY (TO THE OTHER READERS) YOU HAVE OPENED YOUR ISP THAT PROVIDES YOU WITH INTERNET SERVICE (NOT TO MENTION YOURSELF) UP TO A BIG FAT LAWSUIT. YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THIS AS A CUT AND DRY CASE, BUT NO MATTER HOW TRANSPARENT THE CASE, IT IS THE DISCRETION OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM THAT A PERSON BE CHARGED WITH AND FOUND GUILTY OF A CRIME.  ---   You DID exactly what you accused me of, you little sniveling shitass. I'm not sure who the proper authorities are, or why they'd give a shit about a story on a pharmacist's website from a YEAR ago, but knock yourself out. Finally, that almighty IP. Do people know what that means, what it is, or how it works? I don't think so. Yes, an IP can ID you. I could post yours here (but since it was a year ago, it would've changed). Yes that can be used to locate easily and identify with the help of the ISP. But, here's the tricky part ---   what's *MY* IP? Go on...tell me...What's TheAngriestPharmacist's IP Address? You're on his website...surely he posted it on there right? It would take a little effort to identify me. Not a lot...just a little...But guess what...that "little" is 100x more work than ANY law enforcement agency wants or cares to do without solid evidence that a crime was committed and they can get a conviction or confession. And "all you got to go on is a stupid post on a silly pharmacist blog. How do you know he didn't make it up?"

So, idiots of the world, I emplore you. PRINT MY WEBSITE WORD FOR WORD. Take it to the "board of pharmacy" (all of them for all I care), Tell your lawyer, Send a copy to every law enforcement agency on the fucking planet. No one is going to care. They are going to ask you why your vagina hurts and tell you to man the fuck up. Save your time and just man the fuck up...