A Dangerous Business

After an unprecedented set of events at the pharmacy last week (what's new? I seem to ooze bad juju when it comes to pharmacies), I was reminded of Bilbo Baggins' warning to Frodo in the Fellowship of the Ring, when he said:

"It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. You step into the Road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.”

Oh woe - my stepping out the door didn't lead to an adventure, which is what Bilbo was hinting at. Mine was a misadventure, i.e. definitely not enjoyable. I had stopped in at the store pharmacy to pick up our meds, having received reminder phone calls that they were waiting for pick up. I was "greeted" by this sign warning customers of longer than normal wait times.

The gentleman sitting in a chair near my place in line started telling us that he'd been waiting 20 minutes for them to open, after having called ahead and being told they were ready for business. I tried to be cheerful and non-judgemental, feeling for the poor technicians behind the counter, and said, "Well, we can be glad they at least provide chairs for us as we wait,' and he laughed sarcastically and said, "Well, they're going to have to provide bleachers for all their customers at the rate they're going!" I laughed with him, but I wasn't in a rush and thought I could easily exercise patience. 

But that wasn't the problem - the problem was that with the new software, ALL 'waiting for pick-up' meds had been returned to the shelves and my request had to begin again afresh. I was asked my birthdate at least 3 times, and was then told that my prescription was out of date and couldn't be filled. I stood up on my hind legs and emphatically explained that that was impossible, since my doctor sent it through on January 4 of this year, 2024, and I'd received a call that it was ready for pick up just 3 days ago. I was repeatedly told that all scripts had been returned to the shelves, as if that explained why mine was unable to be filled (expired script). Then I got asked if it was for 137 mg. I don't know the relevance of this, and certainly didn't know what the strength was off the top of my head - it was just a regular bottle of nasal antihistamine. It was explained that there were 2 requests in my records (same strength!) but that one had expired, which had caused the confusion (what?) ... It just went on and on ... After mine was sorted out, I had to switch gears to my husband's prescriptions, with the same level of repetition and incompetence. At the end of it all, I was reminded that it would take about 30 minutes to process and fill. 

I had shopping to do anyway, so I decided to simply check in again afterwards. An hour later, I returned to the pharmacy ... and my script (a nasal spray that doesn't require counting out pills and dosages) was not ready, despite me having taken DOUBLE the amount of time suggested! I was exasperated, but remained calm knowing I would hate to be at the receiving end of an entire community's anger, and sat down to wait another 10 minutes.

I didn't lash out or release my inner Kraken this time around, but had a lot to share when I got home ... Bilbo was right, you just never know what dangerous business you might encounter when you step out the door! Tolkien also appropriately wrote “It simply isn't an adventure worth telling if there aren't any dragons,” because in this case, it was the dragons that made me tell of this misadventure!

(I think my doctor should write a script for me not to go near a pharmacy in future; that might help my blood pressure.)