Well, I survived working though the EPIC PANDEMIC, which is the new and improved GREAT TOILET PAPER RIOTS OF 2020. There’s really no answers coming in from corporate or district management, even after Tuesday’s shitshow of a conference call. Every store gets a daily email with whatever new information or policies they send down the chain of command. Stores are shortening their business hours to allow employees to clean before opening to customers. Front store employees are wearing gloves when dealing with customers. Pharmacy staff isn’t, because it’s annoying as fuck to count pills with gloves on. Our store also received two – TWO! -containers of antibacterial wipes to clean the counters and waiting areas.
Oh, and lets not forget being able to wear jeans to boost our morale.
A patient came in this morning. She wanted to fill some of her meds a little early “just in case”. “My daughter is an ER nurse at [local hospital],” she told me. “She’s heard whispers at work that the state will order us to shelter in place on Monday.” I passed the word along to BossRPh and DayTech. BossRPh has gone into panic mode and has me on call for the weekend. Plus, she asked all of us to carry either our pharmacy license or a pay stub with us, anything that can prove we work in an essential industry.
As for Shawshank… he’s tired. Last week, he said he hasn’t had a good night’s sleep since his arrest. The bed is uncomfortable, with thin blankets and pillows, and a mattress that’s too short for his height. He told me, “it’s all nightmares, all night, every night.” Last night, like most nights, he said he went to bed and felt like he closed his eyes and opened them at 7am. That’s what it’s like: he closes his eyes, wakes up, and there’s no real rest between. I imagine he’ll sleep for an entire day when he gets to a real bed.
He’s relaxing a bit now that the wait for his hearing has passed. I asked him how he was feeling about things today, now that he’d seen the judge. He misses me. He wants real shoes, and real coffee, and crunchy food. “It is what it is,” he replied. “If anything, jail will teach a person patience.”
“All I can do is wait.”
