Shop staff, pharmacy workers etc how do you deal with the anxiety?

[marvellousnightforamooncup]

I'm not including NHS hospital workers as that must be off the scale and I'm so grateful to you.

I work in the village pharmacy. My husband is 60 and I have a immune suppressed child. I'm so anxious every day but I'm also needed for extra shifts. I'm toying with living in the spare room but also think it might be too late.

How is everyone? How are you coping?

Knackered.
And shocked at the amount of people who are surprised when asked to pay by card :S

We're still taking cash. I'd put it in a bowl of detergent if I wasn't so busy.

Annoyed at what people deem essential, how many times l see them in the shop and that they bring their kids with them.

Keep your head down, keep smiling and try not to get cross with the twentieth person who complains that the prescription they ordered only the day before is not ready.

exasperated at the sheer stupidity of the British public!!

As I said to one of the sympathetic customers- I think my smile is running out

Shove it all down and come home and cry.
I work in a shop and we've had to deal with so much crap from the public over the last week.

Gritting my teeth at people buying essentials of hair dye and make up

In a pharmacy I should add

I'm not coping with it.

Too busy to feel anxious.

Also too busy gritting my teeth at all the people who think a newspaper and a packet of crisps is important and essential shopping, and then try to pay me with a ten pound note they held in their teeth whilst they sorted out their shopping bag and then handed to me.

And then too tired when I get home. If I start to get worried I watch something very calming on Netflix and go for a run. Anyone want to stop me going for a run with my dog when I spend my day facing off with lunatics who want to buy beer and fags?

I work in a supermarket. Normally not on the shop floor. I had a customer be so rude yesterday because I couldn’t find any fucking Sherry. Essential fucking Sherry.

I work in pharmacy and am struggling today, im currently covering for the store manager and dispenser and today the pharmacist went off on self isolation. I can usually cope but that tipped me over the edge and i sat in the office and had a little cry. But as many of us have probably done this week, I gathered my thoughts, put my game face on and faced the public.

Nothing to add as I’m stuck at home shielding.
Except that you are all amazing and I’m sending you all metaphorical gin/cake/flowers/wine.
Thank you x

By adding the F word in pretty much every sentence (not in front of patients, though)

Teacher-gritting my teeth at the reasons a child has to be in school. Much hand washing, because, you know- children. Parents complain of all the hand washing and then realise that the children maybe could be cared for at home after all....
Hand washing and keeping children outside and 2 metres away is all I can do to manage how I feel.

There are some lovely supportive appreciative folk out there. But quite a lot I want to poke with a 2-metre stick and say what the ACTUAL FUCK are you thinking?

• complaining about the lack of organic milk
• 70 year olds wandering around looking for trifle
• people shopping on their DISABILITY SCOOTERS - who surely have underlying health conditions...
• the yeast-seekers (bread is back to normal)
• the parents with teenagers in tow
• the mulling over this or that flavour
• people who pick stuff up AND PUT IT BACK ON THE SHELF

The poster above who said they put their game face on is about right, I think a lot of people crave reassurance from a semblance of normality and that's why they are still not knuckling down to reality. But a lot of people look genuinely terrified, mainly of the idiots who are putting the rest of us at risk.
Nearly 1000 people died of covid-19 today in Italy. They may have been unprepared, but we are not learning their lessons!

I saw a couple out shopping with their baby the other day. When I had a small baby I would have jumped at the chance to have a partner on hand to either do the shopping for me or stay at home with the baby while I went. Why do whole families with two parents go to the supermarket?!

chup😁. I'm glad the customers can't hear whats being said in the back dispensary, I don't normally swear at work but...

Total frustration at the stupidity.
Whole families out shopping together, the same suspects turning up every day, people sticking their head round the side of the perspex screen.....and the ones who just want to call in for a chat are what tips me over the edge.

OTOH a lovely woman was waiting outside at 9.00 on Monday motivation and just handed us a box of chocolates. Now that really did make me cry.

Exhausted. Just physically and mentally exhausted. I’m also pretty terrified about catching the virus as people are just not careful or considerate at all. I’ve sat and cried tonight.

Thank you for working so hard at the pharmacy. My husband collected my acute prescription and took a box of chocolates for all the staff to say thank you.

I haven't been out for a week but every time I interact with a shop assistant I say "thank you so much for everything you're doing. Honestly I think you're great". Last week I was in the pound shop and was looking through the empty boxes on the disinfectant wipes shelf to see if I could find one that had been missed. A young bloke was stacking the shelf a bit further along. I said to him "you look exhausted, thanks for all you're doing, some of us really appreciate how hard you're working". He smiled at me and said "are you looking for wipes?" I said I was and he said "wait here a minute" and went out the back and got me two packs. How lovely was that?

Some of us really appreciate you OP. I would dread having to do what you do. You're brave and wonderful and that's the truth.

thanksforallthecatfish
I feel there should be a pharmacy thread just for staff to vent

At the moment every time the phone rings there is an exasperated 'FUCK OFF!!' Followed by 'Hello, this is the pharmacy, how can I help?' In the sweetest voice you can imagine.