The Simple Art of Employee Appreciation

This past month was Employee Appreciation month. It's obviously one of those seemingly clever business tactics where they believe that they can pull in more employees, simply by saying, "We have Employee Appreciation month! Not just a day or even a week. We have a month! BEAT THAT!" kind of thing. So, let's take a look at just how great Employee Appreciation month really was. Hm. Let's see.....What did I get? Pizza. Four slices of pizza total during the course of the whole month. Two for lunch and two to take home with me. Wow! I feel so loved! I suppose it is better than nothing at all though! I always tell my boyfriend "I love you a billion Bulbasaurs!" (we're Pokemon fans!) or silly things like that. Well, guess what?! My pharmacy loves me four slices of pizza! Heck yes! I'm going to work there forever! Right.

I'll ask a simple question if I may.

Whenever someone comes to the register, I'm supposed to ask them if they have their pharmacy bonus-card thing. I'm so used to doing that every time a new customer comes up to me that, sometimes even as people are handing me their card or after I have scanned it, I still ask them, "Do you have your bonus-card?" It's ridiculous. I'm so trained to ask that question, that I don't even think about it! Then, I end up making a fool out of myself. When that happens, I try to laugh it off and say, "Oh, yeah....ha ha. It's right in front of me." but it's too late. The mistake has been made. I've already made myself look like an idiot in front of the customer. Good one, Kathryn. =(

The never-ending battle.

Tonight at work, my boss asked me to sweep up the petals that had blown in off of the trees outside. There were a ton, but I was up to the challenge! I swept the foyer spotless. Next thing I knew, I looked over and the floor was coated with petals again! No matter how much I vacuumed, the petals just kept being blown in! Figuring it was a pointless struggle, I decided to quit. However, my boss was like, "Well, you should keep vacuuming every now and then. Otherwise, people will be up to their ankles in petals when they try to walk in the door." So, I continued my never-ending battle against the flower petals, vacuuming every couple of hours or so. Fortunately, it rained toward closing time. So, I was able to vacuum up all the petals without more blowing in. Thanks to the rain, I managed to come out victorious! Stupid petals....

Speak softly and carry a big......axe?

One day at work, someone smelled smoke. It was probably just a little smoldering mulch, caused by some lazy person who flicked their still burning cigarette butt into the mulch. However, the smell was brought to our attention, and so, we had to do something about it. Somebody apparently thought it might be an electrical fire. The store was evacuated, and the firemen were promptly called in. My coworkers and I gathered around the pharmacy counter and watched as the firemen all waltzed in, bearing their "battle axes," which were far bigger than they had any right to be for a casual trip to a pharmacy for a speculative fire. But I guess if the roof of our pharmacy had collapsed, at least we could rest assured that the firemen in their bright yellow uniforms would come, wielding their battle axes, and get us out safe and sound.

Respect the space!

Every pharmacist has a different work space. This makes it very difficult when working with a new pharmacist or a floater, cause you have to learn what that space is. Some want you to help them as much as you possibly can. Others prefer to do things themselves. You really never know what kind of pharmacist you are going to get. I hate feeling lazy and not helping, but (like last night) if I try to do too much, they get mad and tell you they'll take care of everything. It's frustrating!

Yes, I drink coffee.....It's true.

I went to buy coffee today for my boyfriend from the coffee place near where I work. The lady was like...."Do you drink coffee?! Is this for you?" "Yes, I drink coffee, but no. This is not for me." Like, what the heck? She must have thought I was like 13 or something! I suppose I should be used to that kind of thing though. I get a lot of it from the customers at work. For all of you who don't know what I look like, I look relatively young for my age....or so I've been told. People always come into the pharmacy and are like, "How old do you have to be to work here?" I tell them 16 and they are like, "Well, how old are you?" "19" "Oh! You look like you are like....13!" Gee, thanks. Also, there's this one guy who comes in and is like, "I always have to laugh when I see you working here, cause it reminds me of the child labor laws." Hm..... Compliment? Or no? I suppose I'd much rather look young for my age than old. I'm told it will be a blessing as I get older. =)

Oh, dear!

A couple of weeks ago, a woman came up to my register to be rung out. After every sentence she said, she would add the word "dear" after it. I didn't realize it at first, but once I did, it was pretty hilarious. It wasn't even added after each turn she took speaking, it was after every single sentence! "I'm doing well, dear. How are you, dear?", "No, dear. That's quite alright, dear.", "Alright, dear. Thank you, dear.", and finally, "Have a nice night, dear! Bye now, dear." It was insane!

Step away from the counter!

I hate it when people stand right by my counter while waiting for a prescription! Like, seriously! STEP AWAY FROM THE COUNTER! Oh, and don't stare at us while we work.....it's very unsettling.

Are the heaters unplugged?

One of the pharmacists and I have a running joke about the small space heaters in the pharmacy. Over the winter, they would be used practically every day. So, she would always ask me like five times at the end of the night if the heaters were unplugged. We are now well into spring, but she still asks me every night at least twice. Now, we basically just do it for laughs. We'll be out in the parking lot yelling across to each other: "Are the heaters unplugged?" "YES! We never plugged them in!" It's quite funny. Well, at least I think so. =)

We're not mind readers, folks!

Never assume that the tech at the pick-up counter knows who you are. People come up to my counter and stand there, waiting for me to grab their prescription. I can't remember everyone who comes into the pharmacy! After a few moments of staring at me, they are like, "Oh, right. I'm picking up for [insert name here]." THANK YOU! Now, we are getting somewhere!

Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!

I have met the six-fingered man! The only thing was that instead of having a whole extra finger beside the pinky finger like Count Rugen, this guy's thumb was split in two! Weird!

Pink Goop.....

I rarely have to deal with messes working in the Pharmacy. However, tonight we had the weirdest one. It was a pile of liquid. It would have reminded me of throw-up except for the fact that it was hot pink! I have no idea what it was or where it came from. I just know that it made me feel sick to look at it! My supervisor said that it reminded her of silly string that had somehow been turned into liquid. LOL! My guess? The mess was made by aliens...hot pink liquid spewing aliens.

Working in a pharmacy can be very helpful!

Thanks to my experience working in a pharmacy, I knew just what medicine to buy to help me get rid of my recent sinus infection fast! That makes me happy! =)

Boy Afraid

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but our store's selection of condoms is situated right beside the pharmacy. So, if you are planning on buying condoms, there is a good chance I will see you looking. Some people are embarrassed to be seen looking at the condoms though and try to brush it off casually, taking glances while I am not looking.

Last night a boy came in who obviously wanted to look at the condoms, but was too afraid of being seen. So, he would walk around and hide in the aisles trying to look at them from afar. Then, he would casually stroll closer, pretending to look at the items adjacent to the condoms display. It was hilarious! As soon as I would look at him, he would quickly turn away. I would watch as his eyes rolled around gazing at anything but the condoms; the ceiling, the floor, the glasses display. It was so funny! The pharmacist saw the kid just kind of loitering around the condoms section and gave me a what-the-heck-is-that-kid-doing look. I just ducked behind the counter and laughed.

Coupons just make cents!

It always astounds me when ladies come up to my register with a cart-load of merchandise and end up getting it all for a few cents because of their many coupons. It really is an amazing feat. So, Kudos ladies, for your most excellent use of coupons.

I just can't get away!

Even on my days off, I usually find myself back at the pharmacy for something or other: Shampoo, conditioner, batteries, food, Ibuprofen, picking up my check, etc. I just can't get away!

Creepy!

One night over winter break while I was working, a man looking to be in his mid 30's or so, came up to my register and bought a Maxim magazine. (Maxim, for all of you who don't know, has a lot of pictures of scantily clad women in it--not quite Playboy, but definitely getting there.) It's always kind of weird having to ring up people who are buying things like this. Plus, this guy was like, overly friendly. I tried to be nice though and was like, "Have a good night!" Right. So, I told the pharmacist, "That's a prime example of when friendly becomes creepy."

Next thing I know, the guy was back! This time he was buying a candy bar and animal crackers. So, I rang him up. At the end of the transaction, he looks at me and asks, "So, would you be interested in going to breakfast with me sometime after the holidays?"

NO! NO! NO! NEVER! I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH! NO! NO! NO!

I did not say that, of course. I just told him no, thank you. I have a boyfriend. He's actually in my age group too, thank you very much.... OK. So, I didn't say that last part, but needless to say, I was thoroughly freaked out. *Shudders* Creepy!

Pleasant Tasting

I was a little bored today at work. So, I was just looking around at the different medicine that we have sitting back in the pharmacy. I found one bottle particularly amusing. It was for a liquid, but where most bottles have a flavor listed on the front, it instead said, "Pleasant Tasting." Hm.... Pleasant tasting? I wonder who came up with that...

"What flavor would you say this medication is?"

"I couldn't say, but it sure is pleasant tasting!"

And thus pleasant tasting became a flavor listing. Oh, brother.

You never know who is going to come walking down that aisle...

From my post behind the counter, I can see the ends of several different aisles, and you never really know who is going to come walking out of them. One day as I was ringing people out, a lady came walking down one of the aisles saying, "I see Jesus! He comes to me." I was completely dumbfounded. I didn't know what to do! She kept going on and on until I had finished ringing her out:

"I see Jesus. He appears to me! He is the most handsome man in the world! If you ever see Him, you will never want to look at another man again! You can see Him too! All you have to do is say, 'Jesus, come to me!' and he will appear to you too! But don't forget the Christ! You have to say, 'Jesus Christ, come to me!' and he will appear to you! He is my best friend, I should know! He will come to you too!"

Finally, she returned up the aisle from whence she came. I turned to the pharmacist and we shared a what-the-heck-just-happened look and began to laugh histerically!

FYI: If you read the Bible, you would know that when Jesus came to earth, he was not physically attractive...

"He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." Isaiah 53:2b