"Where's your Advil for children?"
"We don't have that. We have Motrin and a store brand right next to it. It's on aisle 7 there on the right."
The lady looks at me like I'm trying to pull a fast one.
"Advil and Motrin are the same thing... they're Ibuprofen," I add.
Fascinating, I think...
<Later in the day>
"What do you have for diarrhea?"
"We have Imodium. It's in white and teal packaging there on the left. There's our store brand next to it."
The guy looks at me for an uncomfortable five seconds, then asks, "For diarrhea?"
"YES," I say, perturbed. I have things to do.
This guy also gives me the Spock eyebrow gesture, doesn't get any Imodium or our generic, and walks off.
<Yet even later in the day>
"My one eye is itchy and has a lot of discharge. What do you have for it?"
"You have an infection. There isn't anything to treat it over the counter. You need to go to the doctor and get a prescription for an antibiotic. You have 'pink eye.'"
He looks at me, raising the eyebrow over his pink eye, and asks, "But what do YOU have to cure pink eye?"
"We have eye solutions and suspensions. They must be prescribed by a doctor."
"So you don't have anything out here?"
Was I not clear on this, I'm thinking. "No, you need to see a doctor."
Man wanders off, shaking his head as he leaves.
We don't lie. We tell you the honest truth, sometimes even if the truth hurts.
Trust your pharmacist.
People do this to me all the time! Don't ask if you don't want my opinion!
ReplyDeleteIt makes be feel better that I'm not the only one this happens to. All damn day.
ReplyDeleteThey seem to not believe you because:
ReplyDelete1. You are telling them something they didn't want to hear
2. Your answer is too simple, or
3. You are not showing them what they are expecting to find. The question, "What do you have for a cold?" might actually, literally, mean, "Where's the Nyquil?" But they don't ask you where the Nyquil is, they just want to know where the cold section is.
They seem to not believe you because:
ReplyDelete1. You are telling them something they didn't want to hear
2. Your answer is too simple, or
3. You are not showing them what they are expecting to find. The question, "What do you have for a cold?" might actually, literally, mean, "Where's the Nyquil?" But they don't ask you where the Nyquil is, they just want to know where the cold section is.
Not that this pertains to you, but in Fl there is a lot of distrust of pharmacists for the following reason. After a long battle with stage 3C cancer I moved to Fl to be near family. I was totally shocked by what I found re doctors and pharmacists. My Fl oncologist sent me to a pain doctor. I never went to such a doctor in NY. He gave me 3/4 of what the doctors in Sloan had been giving me, deciding before even seeing me this was the right amount. Getting the rx filled was the real nightmare. Walgreens 1mile from home was not taking "new" customers on pain med. Every other Walgreens said I had to go to the Walgreens nearest my home (see above) Publix pharmacist said they had no stock, only to fill the same meds for the person after me. In NY I never had experienced this. Final insult was a pharmacist from CVS asking me to explain why I needed the meds and what my plan was to end pain (die?), asking in front o the line of others. The pharmacist in NY was a great person, always the looking out for the customers. In Fl many treat people poorly.
ReplyDelete