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#Post#: 36363--------------------------------------------------
Excuse me, but I am consulting with the pharmacist....
By: Raintree Date: August 10, 2019, 1:34 am
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Today I went to pick up my mother's meds; she is elderly and not
well and the doctors keep changing things to figure out what
works. I have to pay close attention to make sure she is taking
her meds exactly as instructed by the specialist doctors and
pharmacists.
As I approached the counter, a elderly man was asking the
pharmacist, "Excuse me, I know this isn't your job but I was
told the toothpaste is in aisle 3 and I can't find it!!" The
pharmacist said he'd page someone, which he did. And I felt bad
for the man, because he was elderly with a cane, and I can't
imagine it's easy to wander about the store looking for things
with nobody to help.
So the pharmacist paged someone and then went on to help me. I
had some questions about dosage, intervals, interactions with
other drugs, how the drug should be taken, etc., which I needed
to know as these are powerful drugs and I needed to understand
enough to relay it to my mother.
Not 20 seconds in, this man was yelling over the top of my head,
"Does anyone actually COME when you page them?" The pharmacist
said, "Uh...yes, they do..." and then got back to me.
Not a question, just a comment, that I think it's pretty rude to
interrupt a professional consulting with a customer. I really
needed to hear what he had to say. Not just professionals like
pharmacists, but other interactions. Like, I was waiting in line
at a bakery/cafe, and when I got to the front I asked a question
about one of the items, and the customer behind me piped up,
"See, I was wondering that too! Is it this, or is it that?" The
server answered the question for both of us, but then the person
behind me followed up with multiple other related questions, and
I was standing there all, "Um, so can I order mine now? I was
actually next. Then you can have your turn." I didn't say that,
but wanted to.
Anyone have any other stories about rude interruptions when it's
your turn?
#Post#: 36374--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excuse me, but I am consulting with the pharmacist....
By: Hanna Date: August 10, 2019, 7:00 am
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The pharmacy is sort of a weird situation because the
pharmacists are usually employees of the drugstore and do know
answers to general things related to the store. I suspect they
are told a customer is a customer regardless of whether they are
filling a prescription or not. Since in your case the man had
already interacted with the pharmacist and was waiting on the
promised help, it feels a little different than a garden variety
interruption for him to say “hey, you said someone was coming
but they have not.”
I was the interrupter recently when DH and I were getting lunch
in our local covered market. We ordered from different stands
and his did not give him utensils. We didn’t have time to stand
in line again just to get a fork. The man operating the place
was not paying attention to me standing patiently near the
register waiting for acknowledgement so I finally interrupted a
transaction. I felt rude but didn’t see a good fast alternative.
#Post#: 36385--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excuse me, but I am consulting with the pharmacist....
By: lakey Date: August 10, 2019, 1:11 pm
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[quote]Re: Excuse me, but I am consulting with the
pharmacist....
« Reply #1 on: Today at 07:00:26 am »
Quote
The pharmacy is sort of a weird situation because the
pharmacists are usually employees of the drugstore and do know
answers to general things related to the store. I suspect they
are told a customer is a customer regardless of whether they are
filling a prescription or not. Since in your case the man had
already interacted with the pharmacist and was waiting on the
promised help, it feels a little different than a garden variety
interruption for him to say “hey, you said someone was coming
but they have not.”[/quote]
I disagree with this. I worked in retail a very long time ago.
The rule we were taught is that the employee is to finish taking
care of the customer in front of them before dealing with
another customer. It was made clear to us, you don't interrupt
the transaction with the customer in front of you, even for a
question from another customer. I have been in the situation of
being in the pharmacy area of a larger store and not being able
to find an over the counter drug. I asked the person in the
pharmacy for help, but if they were with a customer, I waited
until they were finished.
I know it is annoying to wait when you have a simple question,
but the instructions given for a prescription drug are extremely
important. There is a difference between taking 3 pills at a
time twice a day and taking 2 pills three times a day. Both the
pharmacist and customer need to concentrate, and shouldn't be
interrupted at all. One way of dealing with it is to stand
there, looking like you have a question. If they ignore you, it
is because they want you to wait. In the situation that the OP
had, unless i misunderstood, the man interrupted twice. In
ordinary circumstances, the interruptions are rude, but when a
pharmacist is giving directions for dosages for a drug, that is
a real problem.
#Post#: 36389--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excuse me, but I am consulting with the pharmacist....
By: oogyda Date: August 10, 2019, 1:56 pm
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[quote author=Hanna link=topic=1269.msg36374#msg36374
date=1565438426]
I was the interrupter recently when DH and I were getting lunch
in our local covered market. We ordered from different stands
and his did not give him utensils. We didn’t have time to stand
in line again just to get a fork. The man operating the place
was not paying attention to me standing patiently near the
register waiting for acknowledgement so I finally interrupted a
transaction. I felt rude but didn’t see a good fast alternative.
[/quote]
I suppose the rude guy above didn't have time, either.
#Post#: 36394--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excuse me, but I am consulting with the pharmacist....
By: Hanna Date: August 10, 2019, 3:51 pm
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I don’t agree the man was rude.
#Post#: 36409--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excuse me, but I am consulting with the pharmacist....
By: Rho Date: August 10, 2019, 9:41 pm
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The pharmacy, in a grocery store, I buy my drugs from has short
rope to make an aisle with the understanding that a current
customer has a bit of privacy.
Once I saw next door neighbor picking up a prescription. We
said hello and studiously ignored where we were. none of anyones
business what the other was buying.
Man yelled over your head? He was invading your privacy.
Woman with the cake questions? She was jumping the line.
#Post#: 36414--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excuse me, but I am consulting with the pharmacist....
By: Raintree Date: August 11, 2019, 1:10 am
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Interesting point about the fork. If you get your food and
realize you have not been given a fork, it doesn't make sense to
stand in line again behind other people's complicated food
orders while yours (that you already waited in line for) goes
cold, to get a fork. In that case, I'd probably break in, "Sorry
to interrupt.....I didn't get a fork." That's a quick thing, and
something that can be resolved quickly.
#Post#: 36420--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excuse me, but I am consulting with the pharmacist....
By: Hanna Date: August 11, 2019, 7:21 am
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[quote author=lakey link=topic=1269.msg36385#msg36385
date=1565460671]
[quote]Re: Excuse me, but I am consulting with the
pharmacist....
« Reply #1 on: Today at 07:00:26 am »
Quote
The pharmacy is sort of a weird situation because the
pharmacists are usually employees of the drugstore and do know
answers to general things related to the store. I suspect they
are told a customer is a customer regardless of whether they are
filling a prescription or not. Since in your case the man had
already interacted with the pharmacist and was waiting on the
promised help, it feels a little different than a garden variety
interruption for him to say “hey, you said someone was coming
but they have not.”[/quote]
I disagree with this. I worked in retail a very long time ago.
The rule we were taught is that the employee is to finish taking
care of the customer in front of them before dealing with
another customer. It was made clear to us, you don't interrupt
the transaction with the customer in front of you, even for a
question from another customer. I have been in the situation of
being in the pharmacy area of a larger store and not being able
to find an over the counter drug. I asked the person in the
pharmacy for help, but if they were with a customer, I waited
until they were finished.
I know it is annoying to wait when you have a simple question,
but the instructions given for a prescription drug are extremely
important. There is a difference between taking 3 pills at a
time twice a day and taking 2 pills three times a day. Both the
pharmacist and customer need to concentrate, and shouldn't be
interrupted at all. One way of dealing with it is to stand
there, looking like you have a question. If they ignore you, it
is because they want you to wait. In the situation that the OP
had, unless i misunderstood, the man interrupted twice. In
ordinary circumstances, the interruptions are rude, but when a
pharmacist is giving directions for dosages for a drug, that is
a real problem.
[/quote]
Definitely agree with your points above. The reason I don’t
think this particular guy was rude is that the pharmacist had
*just* been helping him and OP said 20 seconds later he
basically asked for a clarification.
I think it being the pharmacist and whether toothpaste is the
pharmacists job is a bit of a red herring and unfortunately in
today’s American retail scene “do they ever actually come” is a
valid question.
I also believe in giving a great deal of patience to older
people for a number of reasons. One being, less time between
required bathroom trips.
Now if he’d rocked up after the OP and tried to interrupt when
she was there first I’d call him rude and annoying.
#Post#: 36439--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excuse me, but I am consulting with the pharmacist....
By: NFPwife Date: August 11, 2019, 12:32 pm
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The elderly man was 20 seconds in to his wait, though. It wasn't
like he'd waited 20 minutes and no one came. At the same time,
the OP and the pharmacist were just getting started too, so this
is a bit of a toss up. If the OP was 10 minutes in, and the man
was just walking up, then it was definitively rude. This is a
closer call.
My husband and I were just talking about the "I just have one
question" situation. We were watching Comedians in Cars Getting
Coffee and Seinfeld asserted that service is superior in NYC. My
DH and I were discussing if we thought that was the case. I
said, "Well, the only time, in my life, that someone has said,
'I'm waiting on this customer,' when someone tried to interrupt
with 'just one question' was at the TJ's in midtown. So, for
that, NYC gets big points."
DH laughed and said, "You hate, 'Just one question.' " Because I
do. It's a huge pet peeve of mine.
I was in a major hub and there were weather problems and a long
queue to the gate agent. Two men tried to jump the line. I said,
"Unh, unh, unh," and they replied with "We just have one
question." I replied, "You see all these people, they all have
one question too. The back of the one question line is right
there." (pointed to back of line.) Two middle aged business men
saw the whole thing and one said, "If you ever need a job, let
me know. I like your assertiveness!"
#Post#: 36440--------------------------------------------------
Re: Excuse me, but I am consulting with the pharmacist....
By: Hanna Date: August 11, 2019, 12:45 pm
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That’s awesome NFPwife!
I see both sides of it. Sometimes I’m more prone to being
annoyed by interruptions than others, also.
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