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I'm not good at clever segues so I'll just get right to it.
I'm a pharmacy technician. I work full time for a rather large chain of drug stores. I went into this line of work because I genuinely wanted to help people. Having been seriously ill more times than I care to remember, I know that the pharmacy is often the last stop before a recently released patient can go home. It sucks, and it sucks even more when the tech who rings you up doesn't even acknowledge your existence as a living, breathing person who is scared and in pain. I've been working at said pharmacy for about 3 years now and have developed friendships with many of my patients, especially the elderly ones. That said, there are still a handful of people who have apparently mistaken the pharmacy for a fast food restaurant. To those people, I would like to say:
* Yes, it really does take at least fifteen minutes to get your meds ready. In that time span, we translate the prescription, bill your insurance, send it to production, fill it, send it to the pharmacist who must double check it and also look for contraindications, then bag it and send it to Pick Up. It doesn't matter if it's pre-packaged, it still has to be checked, double checked and triple checked before you take it home. This is for your safety.
* Yes, it really does take fifteen minutes to prepare your flu shot/shingles vaccine/etc. We have to process it through your insurance. If they do not cover it, we have to override it with a series of codes. The pharmacist has to wash their hands, don gloves, draw up the shot (because we do not walk around with pre-loaded needles in our lab coat pockets), gather up the supplies (bandaids, sharps container, etc) and then finally come out to stick it in your arm. DO NOT come into the pharmacy asking for a shot unless you have at LEAST fifteen minutes to kill. Do NOT try and rush the process. We have standards we must adhere to by law.
* We know you didn't really "accidentally" drop your narcotics down the sink/toilet. You cannot have a whole new prescription. It doesn't matter if you're willing to pay out of pocket for it. The law will NOT ALLOW early/duplicate refills on narcotics. Yelling at us will not get you anywhere.
* We do not set the prices of your medications. Your insurance does. We're simply the messengers.
* Put. The cell phone. DOWN. I will NOT type up your prescription until I have your full attention. I need to ask you questions about your insurance and your health. It's not a burger you're ordering - it's MEDICATION that is going INTO YOUR BODY.
* Just because you don't see anyone in the pharmacy doesn't mean we're not busy. The phone is constantly ringing. The computer queue is almost always at least 4 pages long, and sometimes more like 9. There are 25 scripts on each page. We are ALWAYS busy. And thanks to the current economic meltdown, we are short staffed, stressed out and overwhelmed. We're doing the best we can. Patience is a virtue, dammit.
That's all I've got for now. But believe me, there's plenty more where that came from.
I'm a pharmacy technician. I work full time for a rather large chain of drug stores. I went into this line of work because I genuinely wanted to help people. Having been seriously ill more times than I care to remember, I know that the pharmacy is often the last stop before a recently released patient can go home. It sucks, and it sucks even more when the tech who rings you up doesn't even acknowledge your existence as a living, breathing person who is scared and in pain. I've been working at said pharmacy for about 3 years now and have developed friendships with many of my patients, especially the elderly ones. That said, there are still a handful of people who have apparently mistaken the pharmacy for a fast food restaurant. To those people, I would like to say:
* Yes, it really does take at least fifteen minutes to get your meds ready. In that time span, we translate the prescription, bill your insurance, send it to production, fill it, send it to the pharmacist who must double check it and also look for contraindications, then bag it and send it to Pick Up. It doesn't matter if it's pre-packaged, it still has to be checked, double checked and triple checked before you take it home. This is for your safety.
* Yes, it really does take fifteen minutes to prepare your flu shot/shingles vaccine/etc. We have to process it through your insurance. If they do not cover it, we have to override it with a series of codes. The pharmacist has to wash their hands, don gloves, draw up the shot (because we do not walk around with pre-loaded needles in our lab coat pockets), gather up the supplies (bandaids, sharps container, etc) and then finally come out to stick it in your arm. DO NOT come into the pharmacy asking for a shot unless you have at LEAST fifteen minutes to kill. Do NOT try and rush the process. We have standards we must adhere to by law.
* We know you didn't really "accidentally" drop your narcotics down the sink/toilet. You cannot have a whole new prescription. It doesn't matter if you're willing to pay out of pocket for it. The law will NOT ALLOW early/duplicate refills on narcotics. Yelling at us will not get you anywhere.
* We do not set the prices of your medications. Your insurance does. We're simply the messengers.
* Put. The cell phone. DOWN. I will NOT type up your prescription until I have your full attention. I need to ask you questions about your insurance and your health. It's not a burger you're ordering - it's MEDICATION that is going INTO YOUR BODY.
* Just because you don't see anyone in the pharmacy doesn't mean we're not busy. The phone is constantly ringing. The computer queue is almost always at least 4 pages long, and sometimes more like 9. There are 25 scripts on each page. We are ALWAYS busy. And thanks to the current economic meltdown, we are short staffed, stressed out and overwhelmed. We're doing the best we can. Patience is a virtue, dammit.
That's all I've got for now. But believe me, there's plenty more where that came from.
to 
Boomslang!
Picking up after hospice patients whose families did not do this was a huge headache for me when I worked weekend triage. 
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