"But I'm Out!"

Ring... ring...

"Goofmart Pharmacy, may I help you?"

"This is Larry Lateagain. I was calling to see if my doctor refilled my prescription."

"Not yet, Larry. We haven't received a response from the doc."

"But I'm out!"

Those three magical words:

"But I'm out!"

The three words that are the trump card for any pharmacy situation. It doesn't matter if you don't have a new prescription or a refill authorization.

"But I'm out!"

It doesn't matter if the physician can't be reached. None of that matters.

"But I'm out!"

It's as if saying those words magically makes things change in the pharmacy... like somehow, somewhere, a fairy sprinkles some magic dust to make the fax machine spit out a refill authorization... or somewhere, a little angel pops up on the shoulder of the physician and whispers "Larry Lateagain needs a refill on his medication."

"But I'm out!"

Oh, now Larry could have called the pharmacy to request a refill when he had three tablets remaining in his bottle. We would have zipped off a fax to the physician, received a reply, and had a fresh new bottle of medication waiting for him. But no, Larry Lateagain waited until his bottle was empty to ask for a refill.

He's out. Out of medication. And out of brains. And we're supposed to scramble around like fools since it's an emergency... because...

He's out!