Well, this is my first real ‘personal’ post (see the post two below this one). I leave for work in about 30 minutes, so I thought I’d give you a glimpse of what an average day for me at work is:
I walk in to work at 10:30, sign in on the timeclock (and then re-sign in because the buttons are so small I always miss one.), head back to the pharmacy (I work in a big-box store.) and put my things away.
“Hi, Pharmacist, how’s it going?” I ask. “Same old, same old. We have 5(to 10) waiters, the first one of which was supposed to be done 10 minutes ago.”
So the first 30 minutes (at least) are just spent getting caught up. Then I tackle the order, which involves:
- taking the plastic ties off of the totes (I always miss one, so I’ll have to go back for the scissors again.)
- placing the little yellow stickers on all of the bottles (they’re always falling off that long strip of paper they come on)
- Putting the drugs away (except for the ones we have on order for people), and
- Doing all this while trying to answer the phone, fill prescriptions, tell people where the toothpaste is and why I can’t sell them claritin-d without their ID.
Ok, so it’s probably now about noon. I’ll spend the next hour and a half filling prescriptions, including the ones that we ordered (either we owe people some medicine, or some doctor wrote for a med we’ve never heard of.)
Around 1:30, it will start to quiet down (hopefully), since that’s when the pharmacist goes on lunch. I’ll field the occasional “Why does the pharmacist always go on lunch when I bring my 10 prescriptions in?” To which I wish I could reply, “Because your the idiot that keeps coming at 1:30 even though you know that’s when they’re always at lunch!”
Most of that 1/2 hour is spent cleaning up, straightening up the filling counter, shredding all the excess paper (and there’s a lot of it), and preparing whatever prescriptions do come in. The pharmacist comes back. I should go to lunch now, but I don’t because there’s too much to do.
I still have to fill out the invoices from the order (and pray that I don’t have to call because they sent us something wrong), check the bins for prescriptions that were never picked up, all while replying to questions like, “Where’s the thermometers?” with “Down that aisle you just came down on the left hanging above the cold medicine. Nope, too far come back. No, closer to me. No, on the left – your other left. They’re right in front of you! Oh, fine, I’ll come show you.”
My lunch usually rolls around about 3 or 3:30. Finally some respite! (uh, no, not really.) I usually spend at least part of the lunch working (even though I’m not supposed to) because it will invariably get busy (no matter how slow it was when I started my lunch). A quick bite to eat, and then I’m “back” to work.
More filling, more stupid questions, more “Now, don’t drink any alcohol or you’ll likely explode (or at least have a very sour stomach).”
About 6:30 or so I’ll start sending the order. I type it into the website they have (which is actually about the only thing at work that actually works like it’s supposed to – most of the time, anyway.) I hope and pray that everything is in stock, and they don’t switch a manufacturer on us (especially on something we owe on – that’s always a pain in the rear).
After that, it’s time to start cleaning; wiping down the counters, emptying the trash, making a mess with the shredder because it’s always overflowing, and filling supplies (vials, caps, printer paper, etc.)
By the time that’s done (hopefully), it’s usually 8:30. Time for me to go, but there’s probably some last minute thing that will keep me from catching my bus (that leaves at 8:38), so I’ll probably get home a little before 10 (or if I’m lucky and do catch the bus, a little after 9.)
Normally, I’d do this all again in 12 hours, but today’s Friday (and payday no less), so I get to shout “Freedom!” and then go pay all my bills. Oh well, c’est la vie.
