061

Back in the pharmacy after a much needed and well-deserved break. To my surprise, I had a very good day because Gregg wasn’t there to ridicule and squash my self-esteem. In fact, it was very much the opposite today. Since Gregg is on vacation, a floater RPh came in to cover. He introduced himself as Gamal and instinctively I asked if he was Arabic and sure enough he is AND he added that he’s Egyptian! I think my eyes lighted up right there and then. Of course I shared with him how I went to Egypt the summer before and what I did there. Any free moment I had, I would drop as much Arabic I could member and Gamal would just laugh, I am pretty sure he was thinking, “who does this Asian girl think she is speaking my language?” I would like to think his incredulousness quickly turned into admiration because he even commented how good my accent was. Aaaw yeeyeaaah.

My ego inflated even more as the day progressed especially after this conversation.

RPh: On the phone talking to someone, “Yes, thank you Gameel” Hangs up the phone and turns to me, “Do you know what that means?”

Me: Gameel? Yah, it means beautiful.

RPh: I bet you got called that a lot while you were in Egypt.

I just laughed and this picture ran through my mind.

With my confidence reaching o infinity and beyond, I decided to be more assertive today. Whenever the tech would call for a consultation, I would just walk on over to the consultation window and do my intern thang. I was making calls like crazy while printing and filling. I was a multi-tasking machine. I had a new experience today too! AN ANGRY CUSTOMER! A customer called in today to see if we had an item in in stock. Unfortunately, I could not find his full list of prescription under the name he was providing me. I told him I would call him back because I was taking awhile (CVS computers are very slow). Even after searching and asking for help, I couldn’t find his prescription in the system. I called him back asking if he had called at a different pharmacy. With a huge exasperated sigh, he said “I’LL BE OVER IN TWO MINUTES”. At first I felt like an ant embracing its untimely demise under a large shoe but then I told myself, “NO, ANTOINETTE. YOU ARE DA BOMB TODAY!” Sure enough, in about 10 minutes, the customer came into the store and the tech calls my name, “Antoinette, you are being requested” I strut over (more like politely shuffle to the register) and offer my assistance to the customer. To make a long story short, he went by a different name in the system, the misunderstanding was resolved and we became best friends forever. He got his meds that he needed and he did not yell at me at all! The power of effective communication!