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!