An Open Apology Letter to the Pharmacy Guy

Dear Pharmacy Guy,

I came back in last night to get my prescription, but I’ll be honest — my plan was also to apologize to you. Our encounter in the pharmacy yesterday around 1pm was not a pleasant one, and I know I am to blame.

I’m writing you this letter because I’ve been feeling guilty about how I was — for lack of a better word — a colossal d******* to you when I first came to get my meds. You see, I normally pay $10 for my monthly migraine medication (Yes! $10! A steal, right?) which includes 12 pills, but yesterday when I came to pick them up you told me it was $330. Ha! I mean, I don’t know you but I *had* to assume you were joking. What a jokester you are, Pharmacy Guy! But then I realized you weren’t kidding, and I magically turned into the white female Incredible Hulk and started forcefully firing questions at you that you couldn’t answer.

"WHAT! Why is it that much? I usually pay $10!"

"Did you apply that coupon I have?"

[Super angry now] “THIS MAKES NO SENSE; CAN YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME WHY THIS WENT UP $320?!?!?!”

All reasonable questions, sure, but I could tell my aggression was making you uncomfortable. You didn’t know why my insurance or prescription amount changed; that was something I’d have to speak with my insurance company or HR department about.

Ooh, Pharmacy Guy — I did NOT like that answer. You know it and I know it. But $330 for 12 pills was something I just couldn’t wrap my head around, and I was projecting my anger about it on you. That’s $27 per minuscule orange pill (I used a calculator to figure that out). This isn’t some miracle drug that cures cancer or makes you prettier or skinnier or a nicer person (which I think we can both agree I need the latter) — it just gets rid of my migraines. Important, yes, but not worth spending the same amount as a designer handbag for. So you obviously understand when you nicely asked me, “Sooo, do you still want them?” and I angrily retorted, “I'M OBVIOUSLY NOT PAYING THAT” and stormed out, right?

I didn’t realize this at the time, PG, but none of this was your fault or problem. I came to eventually find out that something did get messed up with my insurance, and I was switched to a different (and obviously horrible) plan in 2015. I figured out a temporary workaround thanks to a helpful and friendly (AKA the opposite of me towards you) customer service person from my insurance company, and as I mentioned, I came back to the pharmacy with intentions of apologizing to you. But you weren’t there. My guess is you were probably at home, b******* to your roommate/girlfriend/wife about your day which included some irate lunatic who got angry at you for something you couldn’t control.

You see, I know what it’s like when a person at work (coworker, client, whatever) says or does something that adversely affects your mood and can ruin your whole day. I HOPE I wasn’t that person, but if I was, I am very sorry. Perhaps one day I’ll come back into the pharmacy and we’ll have a good laugh about this.

With Regret,
AA