I am the Pharmacy Technician

This is just a random observation. Somewhere, somehow, the doctors in town have the idea that drug reps leave samples of their New Awesome Drug at the pharmacies too. WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. I had at least three customers bring a script last week from a doctor telling me to give the patient “samples” of “name of your new drug”. WTF?

Don’t even get me started on drug reps. I absolutely cannot stand the Boniva lady and her coupons. Maybe if I was a guy she would be nicer to me. That’s the point right? The pretty drug reps seduce the docs into prescribing their new drug? My best friend’s husband is a doctor, and it seems to be the same deal at the doctor’s offices….only they get way cooler stuff than pharmacies do. We get pens and sticky pads….they get lunches, coffee mugs, wall clocks, etc.

That’s right. I sold around 200 prescriptions today with no cashier assistance. Sure the pharmacist and the “student” chipped in every so often, but it was mostly me. I glanced at the schedule for tomorrow, and it seems that I am assigned to the In-Window, Filling station, and Out-Window all at the same time. Okay. I can handle it, but let it be known that I am not happy with this. I cannot physically be in three places at once. But then again, it gives me a chance to show just how kick-ass I am. I bought some TED hose today because my legs are killing me. I am only 30 yrs old. I do not want spider veins yet.

First customer of the day was waiting in the drive-thru….today was the day we could FINALLY fill her hydrocodone and she sure as heck was going to sit there and wait for it. Then in walks Mr Boomba, who apparently threatened to sue the pharmacy last night because we closed 15 minutes before he arrived. Of course his insurance is not working….there was a change after the first of the year that he STILL has not fixed with his employer. All it takes is one phone call from him to his benefits coordinator to get it straightened out. That’s it. One phone call. No need to sue anybody. He proceeded to cuss the “student” out because of his insurance malady. I snickered inside….just a foretaste of what’s to come for this poor girl.

Why, oh why are people so idiotic? When you get mail from your insurance company, READ IT. It is probably important.

It’s also been brought to my attention that in my state there are MANY over the counter drugs that are covered on Medicaid. WHY? This is not necessary. Flintstone’s vitamins for children. Acetaminophen, Iron Drops, etc…. WHY? And why is it that the ones on Medicaid are driving the pimped out Lincoln Navigator and have gold teeth? If you can afford rims for your gas guzzling SUV, you can buy your dang Flintstone’s vitamins yourself, instead of using MY HARD EARNED CASH to pay for them.

On another note: We’ve settled on a name for New Cat. He’s named after a hobbit, but probably not the one you’re thinking of. Yay!

That about sums it up for today. I’m not sure where the rest of the week went….I’ve been in a zombie frame of mind since Monday. I’ve been kicking some major tail at work, or so I thought. I was off yesterday, and the pharmacist told me first thing this morning that they missed me and were running behind all day. See, we were hit by a winter storm the past couple of days, and as usual, the public freaks and wants all of their meds filled early. Luckily, I was enjoying my day off (winter storm or no). My fiance and I decided to adopt another cat to add to the one we already have, plus the two kids. So we spent a good portion of the day at the humane society picking out a younger cat to give our tuxedo cat a playmate.

We brought home a cute little long-haired tabby-like cat that is about 7 months old. He’s a lot more skittish than I was planning for. Tuxedo cat didn’t really appreciate the new cat right off the bat…and I still don’t think he likes the idea of sharing his humans or his litter box quite yet. In fact, there is a Litter Box Drama going on in my apartment right now as I blog. New cat poops then covers up poop, tuxedo cat watches and then for some reason feels compelled to re-cover-up the poop himself. This keeps going on.

The winter storm continued into today, and school was canceled. It was INCREDIBLY slow at the pharmacy, so when I found out that I had been exiled to the drive-thru as my workstation for the day, I opted to come home early so the kids wouldn’t be alone after the fiance left for work. Can I just say, that it is a complete and utter insult to my nine years of tech-ing to place me in the drive-thru for a whole day. I am the Senior technician of the pharmacy and the only one that can take voice mails and transfers, etc. I know just about every in-and-out of insurance insanity, so that I can prevent it from occurring at the point of sale, provided that I am in the position to do so. But in the drive-thru, I am reduced down to near cashier status. I do nothing but scan and swipe credit cards all day. This is a complete waste of everything I know. ……Of course, I have also learned over the years that the drive-thru can be a position of ultimate power. One could, if they so chose, scan EVERY script that comes in through the drive thru as a “waiter”. That is A LOT of damn waiting scripts.

I am THE Technician. I don’t have a PharmD, but I have nine years of front line technician experience. I know just enough to make or break your day. Just try me.

Oh yeah….we haven’t decided on a name for the new kitty. I don’t believe in naming pets stupid names like “Pebbles” or “Tiger”, or whatever other pansy name you can add on here for yourself. I think we’ll wait around a couple of more days and see what New Cat is like. But for my own sake…you’ll probably never see their real names on the blog.