August 28, 2013

Challenge Day 2- Something I Regret Not Having Done Last Year

This was a hard topic for me.  I'm sure I had lots of little regrets throughout the days, but for the most part this has been a pretty good year on "The Regret Scale" (well, compared to other years).  Plus, it's not always fun to talk about regrets.  Most regrets have an element of embarrassment or even shame attached to them.  So, maybe I was suppressing memories of regret. 

But then, one day in particular did jump into my head with that internal twinge of *Ugh*.

It was last May, right after we came home from Mexico.  I had been really sick from about day three on while there. After still being sick in bed for two days after getting home, I finally went to the doctor and found out I had bronchitis.  Relieved I was finally going to get some antibiotics and feel better, I drove to the pharmacy at the Walmart closest to our house.

The doctor had also written up a prescription for some heavy duty cough medicine, which I was only going to buy if it didn't cost a fortune (I love Nyquil, and it is cheap).  When I went to the pharmacy to leave my prescription, I asked the girl there to please check the price of the cough medicine, and also to see if there were any generic versions.

She was a pretty, youngish woman, and it looked as if she hadn't been working there long.  She was really friendly though, and started looking right away.  I don't know if the computer was giving her a hard time, or if she was struggling with the system, but it was taking a little longer than usual for that sort of thing.  I was feeling very appreciative that she was willing to look so hard for me, when clearly she was very busy.

I was just about to tell her to forget it when a pharmacist (Head pharmacist? Manager/pharmacist?) came up behind her with a sour/smug look on his face.  He proceeded to tell her how slow she was, and that she was holding up the whole operation.  As a customer, I was completely horrified and shocked that not only he would talk to her like that, but that he would do it in front of me.  It was rude and unprofessional in my opinion.  She sort of shrunk into herself, and only looked up at me one more time to tell me the price, and to tell me to come back in about ten minutes to pick up the prescriptions.  I smiled at her, and tried to convey to her that I was upset about what had happened.  Then I left.  Upset.

So, my regret is that I let a bully get away with mistreating someone.  I have always preached to my kids to stick up for other kids if they see them getting picked on, yet somehow this one slid right past me.  My only excuse, is that I really was very sick and not quite myself that day.  I'd like to think that if it were to happen again in front of me, I'd say something. 

The only good thing I can take away from that day, is that I'm aware I need to be better prepared to speak up immediately if I ever witness anything like that again.  Even if it were to do no good, and even if others didn't agree with my take on the situation, at least I would feel better about the role I have to play in the situation.

And there you go; Challenge Day 2 is complete!


No comments: