…which is why my bed is piled with mail collected from the box in the lobby when I came home last night. Like many other folks, I look forward to getting something in the mail in the early part of the month. While normally I am not a fan of stopping at the mail box often, in anticipation of my important envelope, I will stop to check a bit more regularly. One time, I got a call from my neighbor, Hugh, on behalf of the mailman, who was wondering if I was on vacation because my box was so full. No, Hugh, I am up here in my loft, just hanging out, and yes, I will come down at some point to collect my accumulated mail.
Yesterday at the pool, I was chatting with my friend, Rick, who is a pharmacist at a Wal*Mart in this area. My friend, Ed, was reporting on the 1st of the month that he was rehearsing being polite to people, bracing for going to the commissary on military payday to restock the shelves of their home. On Facebook, I asked him why he needed to go actually on payday instead of waiting for the fervor to ease.
Rick told me how busy it gets at the store where he works, in particular when the retired military folks come in and demand their prescriptions be refilled---and won't take 'no' for an answer. Not fully understanding how it all works with that type of insurance, I still appreciated Rick’s take on it, when he explains to the customer that they have to wait a week before ‘it is released’. For some reason their insurance does not match up with the first or 15th of the month paydays (I guess) and the customers get ferocious about it---every month!
Rick said he will tell the customer that they actually CAN get their prescriptions filled and take them home that day, but they have to pay out of pocket for them. “Well, how much is it?” “$300 for this one, $125 for this one…” “Oh, I’ll just come back next week…” He said it’s remarkable how the attitude changes, the most challenging customer is humbled when presented with the numbers, the personalizing of the cost of the medications. Insurance is such an important factor and for some reason, the military insurance and the pay days do not coincide. Folks have to make a second trip out. My question remains though…why go on the actual date instead of waiting a week, when it all lines up?
Jerry Seinfeld does a bit about why the pharmacist is perched up higher than the customer is, like he has a lofty position as compared to others. Jerry’s question is how does the pharmacist get those tiny pieces of paper into the typewriter to put the information on the labels for the bottles. Hmmm???
A month or so ago, Justin and I were at Publix, amazed at how busy it was. He asked me, “You do know what day it is, don’t you?”, and I had to think for a moment, because half the time, I don’t!! It was the 3rd of the month, when the State and Federal checks come out, and so do the people who get them. When it was only he and I at home years back, we would avoid the grocery stores or department stores on those days, simply because of the mess of folks. Unless it’s a soda run, however, when all bets are then off!
