I am behind a customer in line who is generally trying to make the cashier’s job a living nightmare, berating the young employee, insisting she was given the incorrect amount of change, etc. The poor employee behind the counter is just trying to be nice and get through a single bad customer.

Customer: “This is the worst help I’ve ever had!”

Me: *Having had enough* “Hey, give the lady a break.”

She turns to me and sneers:

Customer: “Why don’t you mind your own business?”

Me: “Lady, I’m a dog veterinarian. B****es are my business.”

The few amassed customers and the cashier looked like they were gonna lose it. The customer gave me a glare that could chill bones, but she decided to just ignore me for the rest of her transaction. She hightailed it out of there as soon as she was done.

In hindsight, I’m pretty lucky she didn’t escalate the conflict.

I have just given a customer their prescription when they suddenly get a shocked look on their face.

Customer: “When am I?!”

Me: “Uh… it’s 7:15 pm.”

Customer: “No! The date! I need to know the date!”

Me: “July 8th.”

Customer: “What year?!”

Me: “2023.”

Customer: “Oh, no! I came too far!” 

He runs out without explanation.

Next Customer: “What is he taking? I want to make sure I’m not on the same thing!”

I used to work for a retail pharmacy chain from the late 1990s through the early 2000s. Pharmacy robberies were just starting to come into “fashion” at that time. I was lucky enough to have just left before this incident occurred, and my coworker told me about it afterward.

A guy came to the counter and handed her a note requesting a variety of opiate medications and syringes. She took the note to the pharmacist.

The pharmacist was a young woman, very small in stature. She walked down to where the guy was standing.

Pharmacist: “Do you have a gun?”

Guy: “Yes, I do.”

Pharmacist: “May I see it?”

He pulled his jacket aside to show the gun. The pharmacist nodded in recognition.

Pharmacist: “Have a seat while I prepare your… order. Please don’t bother anyone should an actual customer come in.”

She bagged up his request and sent him on his way.

Luckily, no one else came in during that time, and the police were called as soon as he walked out the door. I’m not sure if he was ever apprehended. I came in the following morning to find black fingerprint dust all over the counter.

My coworker noted that she’d grabbed a different box of syringes than what the guy requested. She felt she had at least gotten one over on him!

Our grocery store has a pharmacy section.

Customer: “I was in the aisle, but I couldn’t find [Specific Cold Medication].”

Me: “That medication requires a prescription.”

Customer: “Oh, but I have a cold.”

Me: “Yes, but that specific medication contains a restricted ingredient.”

Customer: “What ingredient?”

Me: “An ingredient that’s used to make methamphetamine.”

Customer: “Like… meth?”

Me: “Yes, sir.”

Customer: “Wow. I’m gonna call my doctor to ask for some!” *Rushes out* 

I didn’t know what to make from how that conversation ended!

I’ve run out of a medication and have begun to feel the effects of not taking it for a few days, but I haven’t received my usual text that the medication is ready. I decide to stop by my pharmacy on the way back from work to pick it up. I go up to the counter and ask for my medication. 

Pharmacist #1: “It looks like we’re unable to fill your prescription at the moment as you’ve already picked up your medication this month, and your insurance won’t cover it again until next month.” 

This is strange, but I tend to be forgetful, and I occasionally forget that I’ve already picked up one medication while getting a different one. At the same time, however, I’m currently packing to move next week, so if I did already get the medication, it is probably in the bottom of a box somewhere.

Me: “Can you tell me when I last picked up the medication? It may help jog my memory.”

Pharmacist #1: “Sure, it looks like you last picked it up here [date two months prior].”

Me: “That can’t be right. I remember getting the medication a bit over a month ago while I was out of town.”

Pharmacist #1: “Sorry, but I can only look up the most recent transaction from our store.” 

There is a line forming behind me, and it feels like this is going nowhere, so I step out of line to think. I speculate that I had extra meds I must have forgotten about, and what I got while I was out of town was due to me forgetting to bring that medication with me. I guess that my insurance put it toward this month rather than last month.

I need to take this medication tonight, and it could be weeks before I find the medicine in a random box, so call my insurance and give a simple explanation. 

Me: “Hi. I seem to have misplaced my medication for this month and am told that my policy won’t allow me to get any more this month.”

Insurer: “It does look like you’ve already filled that prescription for this month, so you’ll have to wait for next month for more.”

Me: “I’m out of this medication, and I can tell it’s affecting me. Is there any way that I can get the meds now?”

Insurer: “We do have a once-per-year option to use for lost medications. Just go to your pharmacist and tell them that you’d like to use that option. They can give us a call, and we can get it sorted.”

Me: “Great! Thanks for your help!”

I hang up and go back over to the pharmacy counter and wait in line. I notice that a different pharmacist is now at the counter. When I reach the counter, I explain the situation. 

Me: “…so my insurance said to give you a call and it can be put in as a lost medication so I can get my prescription refill.” 

[Pharmacist #2] looks at her computer, types and clicks on a few things, and then lets out a very long sigh. 

Pharmacist #2: “Your medication’s just at another pharmacy. We can transfer it over.” 

Me: “What?”

Pharmacist #2: “It looks like it stayed in the system at the last pharmacy you went to, so we just need to transfer it back here and fill it.”

Me: “Really?” 

Pharmacist #2: “It’ll take about thirty minutes.”

I think back to all that has happened within the past forty-five minutes. I can only mutter out one response. 

Me: “…Okay.”

I got my medication thirty minutes later and purchased my favorite candy bar, too. I needed it.