Sunday, August 14, 2011

Rolling the Dice Every Day

This was a weird, long week. Things are slower, as they often are in August, but the situations that do come up seem to be just ---- strange. It was a full moon, however, so that explains a lot.

I actually got to feeling good this week, because I had TWO people tell me "I feel better after talking to you." Both were phone conversations followed up by a face-to-face meeting at the pharmacy later in the day. They were both upset for different reasons, but because we were not too busy I was able to sit down, stay on the phone, let them vent a little and then offer some sympathy and understanding as best I could. One person came in later and shook my hand, and the other one actually apologized for her loss of temper.

What bothers me, though, is that more often than not I cannot do this. Most of the time I'm overwhelmed with work and have many people waiting on me. It is really hard to spend that much time on the phone with someone and think clearly about the best way to handle the situation. There are many times when I've had to be somewhat abrupt and in a hurry to end the conversation because I just can't let it go on and on. I don't feel good about it, but it simply isn't humanly possible when all people care about is how long their prescription is going to take.

I don't like confrontations with upset people, and I have never received any training on how to deal with it -- it's mostly on-the-job training and observing how other people handle it. If someone is being rude and snippy to me I find it VERY difficult to keep a pleasant tone, even though that's what we are supposed to do. And believe me, there are plenty of people who really piss me off with their lack of responsibility, entitlement issues, and lack of respect for the service I am attempting to provide. That's why I found these two situations ultimately so rewarding. I know it was because I was able to take the time and talk to them for awhile. I'm also totally aware that it's a complete crapshoot as to how often I'll be able to do that.

1 comment:

Findyourdrug said...

one rule–NEVER and I mean NEVER–open and expensive medication until the person is right their in front of you and pays for it.