Take yesterday. I was working out in a small-town setting. A woman stops by and is looking for help - and it's obvious because she's leaning her body over the counter and into the pharmacy (Note: strike 1). At this point, I'm on the phone, as is one other tech, and the last tech is counting out pills. Anyone with 2 brain cells can see we're busy.
"Hello?? Can anyone help me??" (Strike 2)
We acknowledge her and say one of us will be with her shortly. And lucky me, I'm the first one to finish up. So I walk over and help her.
"Hi. I live out of town and drove in for my dentist appointment, and half-way here I realize I forgot my pre-med (non-medical translation: 1 larger-than-normal dose of antibiotics to prevent infection) at home and my appointment is in 25 minutes. I was wondering if I could get a refill here. Oh, my prescription is with another pharmacy. I have the name and number."
At this point she seems pleasant enough, and I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt. I mean, we're all human and we forget something now and again. So I offer to call her pharmacy and get the information. After being on hold for about 3-4 minutes, I get the pharmacist who takes some time going through her profile and finds no active prescription with refills. He does, however, find the last prescription and gives me her dentist's name and phone number.
I thank him for his time, and relay this information to the woman and offer to call the dentist.
"Okay, but please hurry. I don't want to be late."
Hurry? Lady, haven't you noticed that I haven't diverted my work to anyone but you? I can't go any faster. Anyway, I call the office, get the receptionist and relay the information (including the fact she has an appointment soon). She then puts me on hold to grab her chart and/or the dentist. After another 3 minutes of waiting, she comes back and says she'll have to call me back after she grabs the dentist. Okay, sure.
I walk back over to the woman (who has yet to move from her hovering stance at my counter) and tell her this. She gets a worried look on her face, and I tell her I will get this going the second I hear back. She finally takes a seat.
Of course, she only sits for 5 minutes before she comes back up to the counter and asks if we've heard back. It's important to note the phone didn't ring once. At this point, the other pharmacist has stepped back into her spot and she recommends going now without antibiotics (it's now 5 minutes after her appointment time) - maybe they have some sitting there or something. She takes this and leaves. A few minutes later, the dentist calls back and talks to me. I tell him she has left to make her appointment. He says he'll give her a new prescription which she can fill right after her appointment to keep her covered.
Sure enough, an hour later, here she is again. "I got the prescription!" she shouts into the pharmacy at no one in particular because she didn't wait 2 seconds to be helped (Strike 3). I take the prescription and tell her it'll be about 10 minutes.
"Oh, it better not take that long. I have another appointment in 15 minutes." (Strikes 4, 5, and 6)
I tell her we'll finish this as soon as possible and ask her to take a seat. At that point, I switched over to Dickhead Mode. I made sure the prescription would take exactly 10 minutes to get ready. This lady needed a lesson, and I was going to give it to her.
Twelve minutes later, her prescription is ready and one of the techs rings her out. After she's finished, the tech walks up to me and says, "The lady pointed at her watch and said it took more than 10 minutes, and then complained that she was going to be late."
My response: "Ask me if I care."
Forgetting to take a med: Understandable - we're human.
Asking for help to correct said problem: Understandable, and I'm happy to do it.
Rush me to fit your schedule: No dice.
Complain that my helping you fix your problem didn't fit your perfect world: Don't care
Not once saying "Thank you": Rot in hell.
I've said it before (many times), and I'll say it again (many times): Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.
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