Impatient Customers: The Collection

I am waiting in line at the pharmacy with about ten other people. At this pharmacy, you take a ticket as you come in and wait for your number to be called. If you call ahead, they will get your script ready for you, or you can hope their SMS service works for repeat medicine and you get an SMS when your medicine is ready. This lets you jump the queue to get your stuff quickly and leave.

My number is up next when in walks a customer who opts to jump the queue.

Customer: “I need medicine.”

Pharmacy Tech: “Did you get an SMS, sir?”

Customer: “No, I did not. I come in here every week for my medicine and you never have it ready for me.”

Pharmacy Tech: “You need to join the queue, sir. Collections are for collections only.”

Customer: “Look, just fill my d*** script already. You do this to me every time. Those d*** SMSs never work.”

Pharmacy Tech: “Okay, sir, I will help you now, but next time, you must join the queue.”

Customer: “I don’t f****** care about the f****** queue. I keep telling you that the SMSs don’t work and I should not have to queue.”

He gets his meds but that is not enough for him.

Pharmacy Tech: “Here you go, sir, and please remember to join the queue next time.”

Customer: “I am going to call corporate and complain. This is completely unacceptable. I should not have to queue every time I want my medicine or run out. I should just get it.”

Pharmacy Tech: “I have noted your complaint, sir, and I will pass it on to our IT department to sort out. Now please leave.”

Customer: “That is unacceptable. You need to sort this out now.”

Random people in the queue started yelling at the customer. It got ugly. The pharmacy tech helping me just rolled her eyes and kept her head down. Finally, the customer left with a stamp of his foot. Thankfully, the police did not have to get involved.