– A 24-hour pharmacy is not an easy place to work.
– Why?
– In the hour I’ve been here, only people with problems have come in, people in pain. It’s not easy to manage that and then go home in a good mood.
– I don’t see it that way. I see my role as helping people. That’s why I went to pharmacy school. That’s why I’m here. At the end of the day or night, I’m happy if I’ve helped people!”
I sat in a pharmacy for more than an hour one evening. I had a problem and the pharmacist lady was very helpful. However, I witnessed interactions with many customers. It was a 24-hour pharmacy, it was a Sunday evening. No one went to buy body cream or tanning cream. Everyone who came in had a problem themselves or was buying for someone at home. Only people with emergencies came into the pharmacy then.
I realized I had a job more sheltered from the pain of the world. Pharmacists, doctors, sometimes psychologists, primary school teachers, people in some NGOs, nurses in palliative centres see a lot of people’s distress. I hope most of them have the mentality of the pharmacy lady.
The rest of us are sometimes lucky enough to see them, admire them, then reposition ourselves, to put our own stress given by where we work in a different light.