Grawr to you Schnucks Pharmacy

[theaspiringlife]

This evening I went to the pharmacy inside of Schnucks grocery store to pick up a prescription. There were three people waiting at the pharmacy when I arrived, and one person came in right behind me making a line of five people total

Comments

[skittlebox]

How do you know if the pharmacist was literally doing nothing? :/

[theaspiringlife]

Because I could see her, through the window, doing nothing. Nothing in her hands no computer in front of her, no phone up to her ear. Nothing.

[muffincakedemon]

Could she have been on a break?

[theaspiringlife]

If so it was a really poor place to take it. She was sitting on a stool, and she was watching the technician check people out.

I actually was a Schnucks employee at one point in my life so I know that there is a large designated break room for all breaks. Pharmacists, bank employees, and other non-Schnucks employees that work in the building are permitted to use the break room. :)

[badisgood85]

I work in a drugstore. Here, at least, by law, there must be a pharmacist there at all times. They are not even allowed to leave for breaks. They have to stay in the pharmacy area and eat their lunch there if they are the only pharmacist on duty.

I'm sure you will have a ready-made explanation for this as you have had for basically every comment made to you.

[theaspiringlife]

Actually, this is something that I did not know, and I appreciate the information. It was later in the evening, so it is definitely possible that she was the only pharmacist present.

I am not trying to prove I am right at all costs here, but if I can clarify a point or something about the situation I will. I wouldn't call that a "ready-made response." Next time I will be more careful about the details I include in the original post.

[badisgood85]

Okay.

[corridor7f]

This.

It kind of sucks to see someone in plain view that could help you, but breaks are breaks - and you can spend them staring into space, too, if you like.

[skittlebox]

That doesn't have to mean she wasn't doing anything. Perhaps she was on a break. Perhaps she waiting for something to finish (can't say I know what exactly a pharmacist does behind the scenes but I assume they have tests and things to do/print out).

I wander around my department at work a lot, looking like I'm "doing nothing" when I'm in fact walking around looking for something for a customer on the phone. We don't have a cordless phone so I can't take it with me. So that doesn't mean I'm not doing anything.

[theaspiringlife]

She wasn't walking, though. Had she been moving at all or even if she looked absorbed in something I would not have assumed she wasn't working. She was just sitting on a stool watching the technician check people out. When she did make a move to start helping customers she wasn't particularly chipper about it, either. That was part of the reason I decided not to stay and get my prescription sorted out.

[skittlebox]

I never said she was walking or moving. I was just trying to explain that just because someone looks like they're not doing anything, it doesn't mean that they aren't doing anything. You don't know their job and what's happening behind the scenes, so just because someone isn't bending over backwards to help the customer RIGHT NOW, it doesn't mean they're ignoring you. And if there's anyone in a pharmacy I hope is doing their job right, it's the pharmacist, because I certainly wouldn't want them to rush whatever they're doing and messing up someone's medication just so they can help some impatient customer.

[theaspiringlife]

Believe me, I recognize that in a busy pharmacy the pharmacist's last job is to serve customers. That is what technicians are for.

However, she was sitting on a stool watching the technician at the front counter. When she got up, she came to help the customer behind me in line without doing anything else first. Unless she was sitting there merely THINKING about her job, she was not working on something else. I understand your point, I really do, but I am not making assumptions. It was as clear as possible that no work was being done by this woman.

[roseofjuly]

You are making assumptions because you don't know for 100% certain that she wasn't doing anything job-related OR that she wasn't on a break. You didn't ask her "Hey, what were you doing right there?" and got no confirmation from anyone that she wasn't doing anything work-related, hence, you are making an assumption. AND your assumption is biased by the fact that you were annoyed that you didn't get service right when you wanted it. IME customers usually assume that the person who looks like they aren't doing anything isn't actually doing anything when they're annoyed and want to be helped RIGHTNOW.

[azetburcaptain]

I have been helped by both pharmacists and technicians in the past; both know a lot about the medication I'm taking (usually it's antibiotics, blehhh). The pharmacists I happened across are really gentle and nice, I'm sorry the OP stumbled across someone less than nice.

The pharmacy doesn't look like it, but it's supposed to be somewhat comforting, because hey, you're gonna take this pill and be all better! :D

[manda_babylon]

I can't be the only person who is unwilling to believe that a person sat on a stool, staring at nothing, not moving or doing anything for twenty minutes. Sorry, not buying it.

[eponinechakra]

My breaks at work are 20 minutes long.

Although, this post is making me feel a lot of sympathy for this pharmacist (and all others) and none for the op. The more I read about their job on here, the more I think they deserve that break!