During my freshman year in high school, my science teacher assigned us to interview people in the community about how they use science in their careers. Although I don’t remember most of the people I spoke with, I can tell you that I spent meaningful time with a local community pharmacist who changed my life.
What I saw was a man who loved his career and truly cared for his patients. In an instant, I knew that I wanted to become a pharmacist, and I never wavered from that goal throughout high school.
Knowing what you want to be when you grow up at age 14 is unusual, but it is very liberating. I simply had to work backwards to figure out how to achieve my goal of becoming a pharmacist.
After high school, I chose to attend Ohio Northern University (ONU) because it had a unique pharmacy program. Rather than attending college for 2 years and then applying to the pharmacy program, ONU students were admitted to the College of Pharmacy from day one.
Although it was expensive, being in pharmacy school from day one and avoiding the risk of rejection made it worthwhile for me.
In college, I spent a lot of time in the library. Although the classwork was difficult, I did well with one exception: organic chemistry.
I did fail organic chemistry—a notorious “weed out” course—but I successfully retook the class over the summer and graduated on time with the rest of my classmates. Failing a course is a difficult stumbling block, but I stood strong and persevered.
Today, I’m thankful for the wonderful pharmacy profession for so many reasons.
First, I’m thankful that community pharmacists are the health care professionals most accessible to the public. If my local pharmacist wasn’t accessible to me, then I likely would have taken a different career path.
Second, I’m proud of the work we pharmacists do, the diversity of our career options, and the relationships we share with our patients and fellow health care providers.
Pharmacy is a profession that makes a real difference in people’s lives. It certainly has made all the difference in mine.
Pharmacy | WA, Australia | Working | January 25, 2014
(It’s eight in the morning on a Saturday, at a very small shop that’s located by a big shopping centre. There’s literally nobody in the car park or in the shops of this place. The only people in the area are the pharmacist and the cashier.)
Me: “Could I get my ears pierced, please?”
Pharmacist: “Sorry. We’re too busy on weekends to pierce ears.”
(There’s a moment of awkward silence as I look around the empty, silent shop.)
Me: “You’re too busy?”
Pharmacist: “Yes. We only pierce ears on weekdays because weekends are too busy.”
(I’m lost for words for a moment, as I stand alone in the customer area where not even all the aisles have their lighting on.)
Me: “Could you make an exception?”
Pharmacist: “What if ten people with prescriptions were to suddenly arrive? Then what would we do? There’s only two of us behind the counter.”
(I end up leaving pretty soon after without getting anything, as the pharmacist continued to insist that ten people with prescriptions would materialise from the empty car-park.)
Great Stuff, Ignoring & Inattentive, New Jersey, Newark, Pharmacy, USA | Right | January 2, 2014
(The customer in front of me is dropping off a prescription. She’s on her phone.)
Customer: “…and then can you pick up [Child] from school, or do you want me— Hang on, I’m at the front of the line.” *to pharmacist* “Here’s my prescription, ID, insurance data. Need anything else?”
Pharmacist: “Just give me a minute to read through this.”
Customer: *on phone* “So, anyway, about the groceries. Why is taking—”
Pharmacist: “Excuse me?”
Customer: “Oh, hang on.” *to pharmacist* “Sorry, I know it’s rude to talk on the phone, but—”
Pharmacist: “No, no. Your prescription. It says ‘cheese, yogurt, chunky peanut butter.'”
(There is a pause.)
Customer: *on phone* “I think I know why it’s taking you so long at the grocery store.”
(It’s Friday afternoon, and I am a customer waiting for my prescriptions in the waiting area of my pharmacy. The customer ahead of me, a gruff older man, is getting upset with the cashier over a problem with the card reader.)
Customer: “I’m telling you, it’s not my card. It’s your machine!”
Cashier: “Sir, you have to enter your PIN correctly—”
Customer: “I KNOW how to enter my PIN! Your machines are wrong! This doesn’t happen to me anywhere else.”
Cashier: “I don’t know what to tell you, sir. My machine has been functioning properly all day. Your transaction failed after you entered your PIN. Would you like to try it again?”
Customer: “If I try it again, you better MAKE it work right! [Financial Institution] is going to freeze my card if I keep trying. I’m going away for the weekend so I NEED my card to work!”
Cashier: “Well, I can’t put in your PIN for you, sir. So I can’t guarantee you it will work.”
Customer: “This has happened the last two times I’ve been in here! I’ve been a customer here for 30 years and you’re saying it’s MY fault? Your machines are wrong! And now my card is going to be frozen until Monday!”
Cashier: “I don’t know what else to tell you, sir. Let me get my manager.”
(The cashier pages the manager, who arrives promptly.)
Manager: “I understand there’s some trouble with your card, sir?”
Customer: “The machine is messing up. It’s NOT my PIN. My card is going to be frozen and I’m going away this weekend!”
Manager: “I understand, sir. If you have time to wait, I’ll call [Financial Institution, which is also responsible for card reader] and try to find out what’s going on.”
(My manager dials the phone and explains the situation to tech support.)
Manager: *on phone* “Uh-huh. I see.”
Customer: “Ask them if my card is frozen!”
Manager: *on phone* “So there’s no problem with our system? Alright. Thank you.”
Customer: “Oh, wait. My PIN on this card is five digits. I only entered four!”
Pharmacy | South Yorkshire, England, UK | Working | December 3, 2013
(In the UK, you get your prescriptions for free if you’re age 16, 17, or 18, and in full-time education, which I am. Your age in years and months is written on your collection form. Mine reads 16 years and 9 months.)
Me: “Hello. I need to pick up a prescription. Could you show me what I need to sign?”
Pharmacist: *glances at the form* “Are you working?”
Me: “No.”
Pharmacist: “Are you in full-time education?”
Me: “Yes.”
Pharmacist: “Are any of these applicable?”
(The pharmacist points to war veterans benefits and low income benefits, as well as two others that definitely don’t apply.)
Me: “Uh. No.”
Pharmacist: “Well, I’m afraid you’re going to have to pay for this medicine. It’ll be £7.88.”
Me: “What? It’s always been free in the past! I haven’t got any money on me.”
Pharmacist: “It’s £7.88, I’m afraid. If you want, I can hold it for you and you can pick it up later when you’ve got some money. We close at 5:45.”
Me: “Alright, I guess I could do that. I’ve never had to pay before. Are you sure that’s right?”
Pharmacist: “Have you? You should’ve been charged. Anyway, you have to pay now.”
(I leave, knowing I won’t be able to return home and back in time. I call my dad and ask him to collect it for me. He does so and gets it to me when he gets home from work.)
Dad: “Want to know why they wouldn’t give it to you?”
Me: “Why?”
Dad: “The other pharmacist was serving me. She read over your prescription and asked the woman who’d served you why she’d charged you, as your prescription form clearly said you’re 16. She looked mortified. Turns out, she’d misread the ‘9’ in your 9 months as ’19’!”
(Good to know these are the people handling our medicine!)
Pharmacist: “We don’t have a prescription under that name.”
Me: “Could you look again? It should have been sent over from [School] this morning.”
Pharmacist: *without checking* “We don’t have it.”
Me: “Could you check your computers to see if you got the order?”
Pharmacist: *checks computer* “Oh! Yeah, we got the order. [Medicine] has been backordered for weeks, so no one has it.”
Me: “I see. So, you just didn’t fill the order?”
Pharmacist: “Yeah. We couldn’t.”
Me: “And you didn’t call the number in my file or my doctor to let them know the medication wasn’t available?”
Pharmacist: “We can’t just call EVERY person who orders this! That would take forever!”
Me: “So it’s better that EVERY person who needed that medication should come all the way down here just to hear that their prescription can’t be filled?”
(I’m a pharmacist, and one day at work, a young woman comes up to the counter to pick up a script. I notice she is wearing one of those insertable birth control rings around her wrist.)
Me: “Ma’am, you know that’s not how those work, right?”
Customer: “Huh?”
Me: “Your birth control ring. Those are meant to be worn… you know… internally.”
Pharmacy | Perth, WA, Australia | Working | November 7, 2013
(I have numerous health problems, and have to take 10 different prescription medications. Because of the risk of drug interactions, I don’t take as much as a vitamin without running it past a pharmacist. I’m in the pharmacy to buy an over-the-counter drug allergy tablet.)
Me: “Before I get that, I’d like to speak to the pharmacist please.”
Assistant: “The pharmacist is very busy. What’s the problem?”
Me: “I take several prescription drugs. I’d like to make sure this tablet’s not going to cause a bad interaction.”
Assistant: *rolling eyes* “I shouldn’t think it would.”
Me: “I would like to speak to the pharmacist, please.”
Assistant: “The pharmacist is very busy. I’m sure I can answer your questions.”
Me: “I’m concerned about drug interactions and I WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK TO THE PHARMACIST, PLEASE.”
Assistant: “Well, it’s just Lipitor or something, isn’t it? That’s no problem.”
(Instead of answering, I place on the counter the bag I carry my meds in; I bring it to new pharmacies so there’s no possibility of mistaken dosages or anything forgotten. I open the bag and begin to take out my various medications, including the injectible, and the ones plastered with warning labels. The assistant’s eyes get bigger with each new box.)
Pharmacy | Austin, TX, USA | Right | October 30, 2013
(I work at a pharmacy that has a drive-thru. We do flu shots and they are in high demand. We have never administered a flu shot at the drive-thru. A customer drives up to the window in her mini-van.)
Me “Good afternoon! What can I help you with today?”
Customer: “I would like to get the flu shot. Can you hurry because I have things to do.”
Me: “I’m very sorry, but you will have to come inside for us to administer the shot. It won’t take more than five minutes.”
Customer: “No! I don’t want to get out of my car. I’m in a hurry; I’m the customer and you have to do what I say, so you have to do it from here!”
Me: “I’m sorry, but it’s against the rules to do it at the drive-thru. I don’t think it would be very sanitary and I wouldn’t even be able to reach you from this window. You will need to come in. I promise it won’t take long.”
(The customer puts her car into gear, so I figure she is coming inside so I close the window and walk away. As I walk away I hear a blaring car horn so I go back to the window.)
Customer: “You have no right to deny me the shot! Are you trying to kill me? What if I get the flu and die? It would be your fault and you will go to jail for MURDER!”
Me: “I’m not denying you the shot, ma’am. Like I said you will have to come inside; it’s the rules. Please move so I can help the other customers.”
Customer: “NO, B****! I WANT THE SHOT RIGHT NOW AND I’M NOT COMING INSIDE! I’M NOT MOVING MY CAR UNTIL YOU HELP ME! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU ARE WASTING MY TIME! I HAVE THINGS TO DO! I AM THE CUSTOMER AND YOU HAVE TO HELP ME! GIVE IT TO ME NOW YOU LAZY B****!”
Me: “No, you need to come inside. We can not administer a shot at a drive-thru window. We have never done it that way. If you come inside I will be able to help you and it will only take minutes. Please move your car so I can help other customers.”
Customer: “NO! I’M NOT MOVING AND YOU BETTER NOT HELP ANYONE ELSE! I WAS HERE FIRST AND I DEMAND YOU GIVE ME THE SHOT FROM HERE! IF YOU DON’T GIVE ME THE SHOT I’M GOING TO HAVE YOU FIRED AND I WILL MAKE SURE YOU NEVER GET ANOTHER JOB IN THIS CITY!”
Me: “For the last time, NO! If you don’t move your car, I’m going to call the police.”
(I start helping the other customers. The customer continues to yell, flips me off and hits the gas. That’s when I hear a loud crash. I look to see that she had put her car in reverse by accident and slammed into the car behind her!)
Pharmacy | Drexel Hill, PA, USA | Right | October 3, 2013
(I have recently been hired at a pharmacy a few towns over from mine. It’s my second day as cashier, when a teen girl comes to my register. I’m 22 and wearing a name tag.)
Customer: “Hi, I’d like a pack of [Brand] cigarettes, please.”
Me: “No problem. I just need to see your ID.”
Customer: “Oh, well it’s at my house and I don’t have time to run back and get it. Can’t you let me go this time?”
Me: “Sorry, it’s not worth my job.”
Customer: “But you know me!”
Me: “I can’t say that I do.”
Customer: “Dude, [My Name], we go to high school together.”
Me: “Oh, really? What high school do you go to?”
Customer: “[Local High School]. We totally have English together.”
Me: “Yeah, no. First of all I went to [Rival High School]. Second, I was in AP English, the scores of which I used to go to [University], which I just graduated from. So, no, I don’t know you. Show me ID or move along.”
Customer: “You suck.”
(She left and asked the next few visibly older customers to buy her cigarettes. No one bought them, and one even threatened to call the cops if she didn’t leave!)
(My sister and her husband are having trouble conceiving. It’s been four long and emotional years for all of us. She forgot to buy pregnancy tests last time she was out, so I offer to get some on my way over to her house. I hand over my items to the cashier.)
Cashier: *picking up pregnancy test with a gleeful smile* “Oooh! Is this a good thing or a bad thing?”
Me: “…what?”
Cashier: “Are you hoping you are or hoping you aren’t?”
Me: “That is a pretty personal question.”
Cashier: “Yeah, but I’m stuck here all day with nothing to do. So I’m thinking you cheated on your boyfriend and hope you aren’t carrying some random guy’s kid!” *huge grin* “Am I right?”
Me: “They’re not for me, but that’s really none of your business.”
Cashier: *offended and hostile* “Y’know, it’s people like YOU who make the world a terrible place! Try being friendly instead of such a b****!”
(I have just gotten off of a split shift, during my second seven-day work week. My children have joined me for the last part of my second shift to help me out and we are heading home. It’s just after 8:30 pm, and I’ve been at it since 6 am. We go to the pharmacy next to my store to buy some ibuprofen, and I go up to the pharmacy desk to pay since the main cash has a huge lineup of people buying toilet paper and snack foods. After waiting about two minutes the pharmacy technician, who’s been looking at me and sighing deeply, finally comes to serve me.)
Employee: “Are you here to pick up a prescription?”
Me: “No, I’d just like to pay for these.”
Employee: *as she’s scanning my pills* “Okay, well this cash is only for prescription medication purchases. You should really have gone to the main cash.”
(I’ve often seen customers paying for everything from band aids to makeup at this cash without buying prescriptions, as long as they had some sort of medication with them from the pharmacy area where I picked up my pills.)
Me: “Oh, I’m sorry about that. I just assumed that you pay for medicine at the pharmacy counter. I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”
Employee: “Yeah, well we’re really busy you know, and this takes me away from doing all my work. Now it’s going to take me even longer to finish up and get out of here tonight.”
Me: “Again, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. I work in retail myself, I know how frustrating it is when you’re busy and you have to stop to help a customer or coworker. It can be—”
Employee: “And you know, just because it doesn’t look like we’re doing anything, it doesn’t mean we’re not busy. We have a lot to do here and this is really annoying! You know, people are just leaving us with their prescriptions all the time.”
Me: “Well, that is your job but still I can understand—”
Employee: “When customers like you waste our time like this it’s really annoying. It’s going to take us even longer to finish up now.”
(The pharmacist finally hands me my change. My children are clinging to me nervously and the customers around me are all shuffling around awkwardly, trying not to look our way. I’ve had enough.)
Me: “Look, I’ve literally been working since 6am. I worked seven days in the last week, I have one day off this week, and I’ll be working from home, and then I work another seven days. I am exhausted, and I regularly have to stop what I’m doing to help my customers, coworkers and employees even when they really could have managed without me. I regularly have to work late or start early due to these interruptions, and my job is 90% physical work on the floor doing heavy lifting and going up and down ladders in a dusty stockroom. You are preaching to the choir here lady. And I’ll tell you, I have never spoken to a customer the way you just spoke to me, or made them feel guilty about coming in to shop and making me do my JOB! Thank you and good night.”
Pharmacy | Phoenix, AZ, USA | Working | September 12, 2013
(Our pharmacy has recently switched to a new manufacturer of Lorazepam, which requires refrigeration. I overhear a conversation between a patient’s caregiver, and the pharmacist.)
Caregiver: “So I was told this stuff has to be kept cold? Is it still good if it wasn’t?”
Pharmacist: “No, you’re going to have to get it replaced. If it’s been left in room temperature for more than a few hours, I cannot recommend you giving it to your patient.”
Caregiver: “Well nobody told me it had to be kept cold! I want a free replacement.”
Pharmacist: “We put ‘REFRIGERATE’ on every label; don’t you read your patient’s labels?”
Caregiver: “I don’t have time to read all the labels.”
Pharmacist: “Then how do you know you’re giving the drugs properly to the patient?”
(I am at the pharmacy picking up my prescription. I am standing in line behind a very elderly lady.)
Pharmacist: “Hello, ma’am. What can I do for you?”
Elderly Lady: “I am picking up my prescription. It’s under Mrs. [last name].”
(I overhear the elderly lady, and realize that she has the same last name as I do. This is not a totally uncommon name, but it doesn’t happen too often.)
Pharmacist: “Okay! Here we go I think it’s… huh…”
(The pharmacist looks confused as she picks up some pills.)
Pharmacist: “Can you tell me your first name please? I don’t think I grabbed the right one.”
Elderly Lady: “Sure, it’s [first name].”
(By a crazy coincidence, this is my first name too! At this point the pharmacist widens her eyes in shock as she stares at the pill box in her hand. She starts to stammer.)
Pharmacist: “But… um… I don’t… uhh… how?”
Me: “Um, I think those might be mine. I have the same first name and last name. Those are my birth control pills.”
Pharmacist: “Oh thank GOD! I thought I was in the twilight zone!”
Elderly Lady: “Oh dear! No wonder! No I don’t want THOSE!”
Pharmacy | Jersey City, NJ, USA | Right | August 23, 2013
(I’m about to ring a customer up. I’m supposed to ask if they have our rewards card, and if they say no, I offer them to sign up for it, as it’s free of charge and relatively quick to do.)
Me: “Good evening, ma’am. Do you have a rewards card?”
Customer: “No. What’s the benefit of it?”
Me: “The rewards card allows you to get the sale prices of whatever’s on sale for the week, and with certain sale items and over the counter medications. You build up rewards points, which you can use to save money later on.”
Customer: “Okay. Do I need anything for it?”
Me: “All we need is some basic info, just for identification purposes. Would you like to sign up? It’s free of charge.”
Customer: *says nothing, fumbles around her purse*
Me: “Ma’am? Would you like to sign up for the card?”
(The customer takes out her credit card and swipes it, paying for the purchase.)
(I am a 20-year-old female, but I guess I look younger. This occurs the first time I am buying condoms. I feel a little awkward, since it is my only item, and I’ve never bought them before.)
Cashier: *holding up the box of condoms* “Will this be all?”
Me: “Yep.”
Cashier: “I don’t think I can sell these to you.”
Me: “W-why?”
Cashier: “I think you’re too young to be having sex.”
Me: “That’s absurd! I’m 20 years old!”
Cashier: “Yeah, okay. Prove it! Let me see your driver’s license.”
(I start to go through my purse, when an old lady in line behind me speaks up towards the cashier.)
Old Lady: “Hey, you pimply a**-hole! Just let the girl buy her stuff. She’s trying to buy contraception to have safe sex instead of risking an STD or a pregnancy. Even if she was younger than 20, and I believe she is telling the truth, you should still sell them to her to prevent another teenage pregnancy! On top of it, we are on a college campus! How many young teenagers do you see around here? Most of the people who shop here are 17 or older! Just give her the d*** condoms!”
(The cashier wordlessly scans my items and bags them, and takes my cash.)
Me: “Have a nice day, jack-a**! Oh, and I’m paying for her stuff, too.”
(I am a cashier at a small town pharmacy. An older customer walks in making a jingling sound, and I see that he has bells tied to his shoelaces. It is August, and he appears anything but jolly, so I am perplexed by the bells.)
Me: “Sir, if you don’t mind my asking: why the bells?”
Customer: “My wife is going deaf, and she gets mad when I ‘sneak up on her.’ This was her solution.”
Pharmacy | Yorkshire, England, UK | Right | July 11, 2013
(It is a Sunday, so not many pharmacies are open. I’ve come in with my friend, who is rather unwell. The staff know my husband and I quite well, as we’re in there for our regular medication. Additionally, I have multiple piercings, a rather large tattoo on my nape of my neck, and teal green hair.)
Pharmacist: “Won’t be long; please take a seat.”
(We do, and I give the tech I know well a smile and a nod in greeting. Another customer enters.)
Customer: “How long will it be for my medication?”
Pharmacist: “About 20 minutes. We have a few people in front of you.”
Customer: “Fine. I wouldn’t come here if you weren’t the only pharmacy open on a bloody Sunday; you’re always slow!”
(The pharmacist brushes it off and goes to make up medications.)
Customer: “I’m only having to wait this long because of stupid drug freaks.”
(My friend turns to say something, but I put my hand on her arm and shake my head.)
Customer: “Yeah, I mean you, green freak! What, come in for your methadone early, and they won’t give it to you?”
(I’ve deliberately turned my back on him at this point.)
Customer: “F****** druggies! We pay for you to get f****** high.”
Pharmacy Tech: “Sir, can you watch your language please?”
Customer: “No I f****** won’t! That stupid b**** is the reason I have to wait so f****** long! She’s strung out, look at the f****** circles under her eyes; they’re all bloodshot!”
Pharmacy Tech: “I’ll have you know that young lady there is a full-time carer for her husband, who is disabled. And all this whilst being disabled herself. She looks like she hasn’t slept in a week because she probably hasn’t; between caring for him, volunteering with [national advice organization], and helping out her friend here who is rather unwell. And I don’t personally care if my taxes are being used to help her out; I wish there were more people like her out there!”
Customer: “I… I… I demand to see a pharmacist!”
Pharmacist: “Sir, I am not going to reprimand my tech for handling that much better than I would have. Do not insult my customers. Here is your prescription back; please fill it somewhere else.”
(The customer stomps out.)
Me: “I’m really sorry I caused that.”
Pharmacist: “Eh, don’t worry; he’s always an a** when he comes in here. Besides, he has an exemption certificate, which means our taxes are paying for his meds too!”
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