Don't Be a Jerk!
It's Mr. Tangen's fourth rule! (If you don't know what I'm talking about, read this post.)
On Sunday, I discovered that it's difficult to find a pharmacy that is open later in the evening in Utah County. On the way home from the InstaCare, we stopped by a Walgreens right by Macey's in Pleasant Grove. The pharmacy was closed. So I took my son home so he could color Easter eggs and I started calling around.
Albertson's Pharmacy: closed
Smith's Pharmacy: closed
Wal-Mart Pharmacy: closed
The nearest Walgreens with an open pharmacy was in Orem. If it had been after 10pm, I would have had to drive all the way to DRAPER for the nearest open pharmacy.
When I arrived, the place was pretty busy. That's quite understandable, since it was the only pharmacy within 25 miles or so that was open. I waited in line behind 5 or 6 other people, waiting to drop off the prescription for the "eye goop."
The poor lady working at the pharmacy at the time was taking quite a bit of abuse from the customers that had been waiting for prescriptions to be filled. She was polite and apologetic for the extra wait time, but most of the people seemed to be taking their exasperation out on her. Some were extremely rude to her.
I wondered how many of these people could have picked up their prescription on Saturday afternoon. I noticed that several of them were buying things like Sudafed, which can be purchased any time the pharmacy is open without a prescription. So these people, who could have come at ANY other time, decided to be jerks to the poor lady who had the misfortune to be scheduled to work on Sunday night. She probably didn't want to be there in the first place!
I sat there waiting for the prescription to be filled and listened to jerk after jerk tell her how long they had waited to get a "simple prescription," or how long they had to wait in line "just for a decongestant." I failed to see how getting angry and acting like a jerk helped the situation at all.
When my prescription had been filled (I waited about a half hour), I went to pay for it and she politely apologized for the wait. I thanked her and said something like "It's okay... I know you're busy, but this is the only pharmacy open that I could find in Utah County. I don't understand why everyone has to be so rude to you. I'm just glad that you're here to help fill my prescription." She looked at me as if it was the nicest thing she had ever heard anyone say in her life.
She thanked me for being the only one that understood the situation and gave me a "Welcome to Walgreens" kit (a water bottle, a pill box, lip balm, hand sanitizer, lotion, and the like) worth $5 for free. And she smiled. It was the first smile I saw on her face since I had walked in a half hour earlier.
See? Don't be a jerk! It's a good rule. I wasn't happy about having to wait either, but how much LESS happier would I have been if there would have been NOWHERE to fill the prescription? Because I wasn't a jerk, I helped cheer someone up AND I got some free stuff.
4 comments
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Laylabean
*eye roll* People are idiots! I don't think half an hour is very long to have to wait on a Sunday night at the only open pharmacy within 30 miles. Good for you for brightening her day. Tell those Sudafed people to go to WalMart or something. Or has that been classified as a controlled substance now?
Besides, that's why Walgreens has all those aisles filled with chia pets and tiny, junky water fountains. To entertain you while you wait.
Mr. Me
It's a controlled substance. That's why it's behind the counter in stead of out on the shelves. Sudafed has Pseudoephedrine in it, one of the precursors to meth amphetamine.
One of the jerks was complaining that he couldn't buy a whole bunch of Sudafed. "It's not a controlled substance." The lady replied that it IS a controlled substance in Utah. She finally had to have him wait to talk to the pharmacist. (Which made us all have to wait longer)
The pharmacist just told him that it IS a controlled substance in Utah. The man replied that it's NOT. Finally the pharmacist said something like "When you're standing on THIS side of the counter, you can tell me what is and isn't controlled in Utah."
Giggles
Kind of makes you wonder what that guy had planned for a Sunday night, doesn't it?
Mr. Me
Maybe I'm racist, or elitist, or something-ist, but I didn't have to look at him too long to know EXACTLY what he had planned for a Sunday night.
I don't mind having to ask at the pharmacy for the "real" Nyquil, or for the "real" Sudafed. Since Pseudoephedrine was made a controlled substance in Utah, the number of meth labs in Utah has dramatically decreased.
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, law enforcement agencies found 272 meth labs in 1999. They found only four in 2007. That's a HUGE difference. I doubt it's because the drug cookers are getting smarter or harder to find. It's because you can't cook meth if you can't get the ingredients.