We have a patient whose employer did not activate his health insurance. The patient is on the phone with his employer and the final resolution was the employer saying that if the insurance coverage did not go through, the employer would reimburse the patient for the full cost of the medication.

For those unaware, the pharmacy has no control over insurance coverage. All we do is send an electronic claim to the insurance, and the insurance either comes back with a copay (aka, what we charge the patient for the medication) or a rejection (patient not covered by [x insurance], medication not covered by insurance, pharmacy not in network, etc.).

The patient informs us he’s paying cash price without his insurance since this insurance isn’t going through. I let him know what the total cost is for all his medications – it’s less than $50, so not even that bad.

Patient: “I’m glad we got that figured out. If I had to come here again, it would be with a gun.”

Me: “…okay, so your total cost is [total]. We’ll ring you up at the register to your left.”

Patient: “Doesn’t that scare you? That I might come back with a gun?”

Honestly, yes, but he’s clearly looking for a reaction.

Me: “Nah. At my last job, patients would bite me on a daily basis.” *Actually true.* “This job is much less scary.”

Patient: “Oh…” *Walks off in disappointment.*

It’s the beginning of lunch hour. A customer orders a fish sandwich with extra tartar on the side. We run out of little side cups, so we use a chicken nugget box. It’s the smallest we have: a four-piece.

The line grows as it is lunch hour, and the fish customer comes up to the front of the line and puts the nugget box down for all to see. He then has the smuggest look on his face as he says in a loud voice:

Customer: “I did not order nuggets! I ordered a fish sandwich with extra sauce on the side!”

I said, “Excuse me,” to the customer I was currently helping and flipped open the nugget box to show the extra sauce in said container.

He then hung his head and went back to his meal.

I was working as a cleaner and just-do-stuff person on a construction site and the boss man didn’t like me — because I was a young woman in a man’s world, I guess? Other workers were nice to me, especially [Coworker], who is important to the story. [Coworker] was a good man, nice, funny, and kind. An example of that is when [Coworker] took me under his wing when [Boss] denied me the ability to change my clothes anywhere else than his office. [Coworker] started to track when I came in for work and kept [Boss] busy while I changed my clothes.

This particular event happened when the building was close to finished. I was cleaning the inside of that building when I heard [Boss]’s voice.

Boss: “Hey, [My Name], why this place is looking like this?”

Me: *Looking around* “Like what?”

Boss: “Like this, there are tools all over the place. You should keep this place clean.”

Me: “This is a construction site. There are tools. Workers use them. What do you want me to do? Collect them?”

Boss: “Yes. I need you to collect all tools that are not in use right now.”

Me: “Umm… you want me to collect all tools? That are not in use right now? Like, take them outside to the storage, so people need to walk there to get them again?”

Boss: “What is your problem? Do what I say! Collect all of them and don’t do anything else until you do.”

Then, he walked off. Just walked off. First, I was mad, but then I thought why not? And so I started to collect ALL of the tools. You let go of your hammer to use a circular saw? I took your hammer and took it to storage. I even found a wheelbarrow that I used to take even more tools in one trip.

I took all of the tools to storage. I did keep different subcontractors’ tools in different piles so no tools were lost or mixed.

At one point, [Coworker] stopped me.

Coworker: *Very puzzled* “What are you doing? We use these tools.”

Me: “I know, and I’m sorry that this makes things hard for you, but [Boss] told me to collect all of the tools that are not in use right now. So I’m doing that.”

Coworker: “Why would he make you do that?”

Me: “I don’t know.”

Coworker: “I’ll go to talk to him.”

He left and came back.

Coworker: “You didn’t lie. [Boss] just told me to let you do your job.”

Me: “Well then, I do my job.”

I took more tools to the storage. After an hour or two, other workers started to put up signs like “I use this” or “This is mine,” and of course, I didn’t take those tools again. I had to explain my surprising enthusiasm to steal people’s tools lots of times, but all of the workers were nice, so they just took more cardboard or paper and made more signs. Soon, [Boss] started to note the signs of the workers, and he wanted answers.

Boss: “What are these signs?”

Me: “Workers put them up.”

Boss: “Yeah, but why?”

Before I had time to answer, [Coworker] intervened:

Coworker: “You told [My Name] to collect all of the tools. She did it so well that we couldn’t keep up, so we put signs to mark the tools that we used.”

Boss: “Why you didn’t stop her?”

Coworker: “You told me not to.”

Me: “And because I have been running around gathering tools, I have not done anything else.”

Boss: “Why not?”

Me: “Because the tools are constantly coming back inside. And no one uses them.”

I got yelled at, but it was worth it.

I was going through the store, picking up the items customers had left behind in the wrong location so that when we closed we could sort them and put them back in the right location. My store has stopped mandating the wearing of masks, but I continue to wear one because I think it’s kinda nifty not to douse people in germs and micro spit particles when you talk to them.

A customer approaches, so I get ready to ask if she’s finding everything okay.

Mask-less Customer: “Why are you covering your face?”

Me: “I’m trying to be conscientious and take precautions against spreading disease to others.”

Mask-less Customer: *Leans in conspiratorially.* “I seen you before all this happened though, and you didn’t show your face then, either. Maybe you just ain’t got a face worth showin’.”

Related:
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 23
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 22
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 21
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 20
An Ugly Side Of Society Has Been Unmasked, Part 19

A girl from my former church has managed to recruit a whole bunch of people from there to a popular multi-level marketing scheme. As a result, I keep getting pitched on social media by people that she has recruited. I am polite when telling them no.

However, after a long day at work, I arrive home to find yet ANOTHER social media invite to a “networking” event in my inbox. I leave a comment on the post asking them to take me off whatever list I’ve ended up on, because I’m not interested in MLMs, please and thank you. I don’t name anyone and I try to be polite, but firm. A few minutes later, I get a private message from the original “upline,” the girl from my former church.

Girl: “I saw your post. Who invited you?”

Me: “[Girl #2].”

Girl: “Sorry if you were offended by the invite, but you could’ve been nicer. [Girl #2] is new. You didn’t have to embarrass her.”

Me: “I didn’t name anyone until you asked me. I just want all of you to stop contacting me.”

Girl: “You go to [My Old Church], right? How about you be a good rep and show some love instead of being a discourager?”

Me: “I switched churches over a year ago. Please leave me alone.”

Girl: “Well, that’s not surprising!”

Me: “You want to talk about being a good rep of [Old Church]? You’re not great at it, either. Bye.”

She was still typing when I blocked her.