Fucking Jobsworth [word removed by MNHQ]

[FATEdestiny]

Fucking, bastarding jobsworth [word removed by MNHQ] at ASDA pharmacy refused to sell me a large (6 treatment) bottle of nit treatment, but I could buy three smaller (2 treatment) bottles.

Just because they are twatfaced "computer-says-no", no common sense, jobsworth twonks.

DS6 scratchy head last night. I suspected bedtime stalling tactics said I'd check properly the following day. DS10 scrubbing his head with brush this morning - asked what's wrong he said his hair itches. DD11 then pipes up that her hair has been itching too.

Three school aged children plus 1 baby means not loads of time in the morning. Not time to go through hair with a fine toothed comb (literally). Quick flick thro their hair to check they are not riddled and reassuring them it is no reason to stay off school.

I said I'd get treatment today, check with a nit comb afterschool and treat then if needed. But oh no. I cannot buy nit treatment without first confirming I had actually physically seen a headlice that day.

I should have just fucking lied to the sourfaced jobsworth behind the counter.

Twat.

Actually the twats are those who use the nit treatment stuff as a preventative and encourage resistance to the active ingredients. If it wasn't for these twats then sensible but busy Mums like me could but big-family-sized nit treatment and have it in the cupboard ready for when it is needed. And be trusted to only use it when it is needed.

Twats the lot a ya!

I thought the treatment stopped the eggs from hatching? Depriving them of oxygen? The pharmacist said Hedrin Once wasn't effective alone as you also needed to comb the adults and hatchlings out.

But your OP was about how useless you felt the staff were in not ignoring it and your anger at them not doing what was right for you

And I maintain that the member of staff was too much of a jobsworth for my liking. That kind of inability to use common sense angers me, hence the colourful language used in my OP.

She could have just said "Look, I am not allowed to sell you this unless you confirm you saw live headlice. Did you see live headlice?".

She clearly had no problem actually selling me 6 treatments. It is the basic ability to think for yourself using logic and common sense that is missing.

Why didn't you say yes then OP? No one was going to arrest you. :o

It's the policy you have a problem with, not the member of staff implementing it.

Has it not occurred to you that she was trying to help, by finding a way round the rules she had to adhere to, rather than risking her job by just disregarding policy?

Attitudes and language aside, why do they stock big bottles if they're not allowed to sell them. Seems ridiculous to me.

And I've never heard of a school not allowing children in with head lice, primaries up and down the country would be permanently empty. .

I've never worked in a pharmacy but I would imagine they are bound by all kinds of rules, put there for the safety of customers. Perhaps this one didn't make much sense but do you really think the person who served you made the rule?

They were just doing their job. Your anger and language towards them is out of order. And if you want a "jobsworth" anywhere I would say a pharmacy is a pretty good place.

i wouldn't have time to treat nits for 4 kids either. That's why i only have 2 children.

to bring your school's policy in line with most others, so that kids should be treated before being sent back to school?

See, you are making that up WorraLiberty.

NHS advise schools not to allow headlice as a reason for absence. "Most schools" follow NHS recommendation. Otherwise classrooms would be empty and have serious issues with their attendance figures.

Several posters have already made this point on the thread.

Of course regular checking and swift treatment is very important and most schools will remind parents of this often.

She bent the rules, but didn't break them. She did what she could.

Why you are so pissy with her is beyond me.

Right, so the "pharmacy assistant went out of her way to show me how to bend the rules by advising me to buy multiple smaller bottles"

And then you came on MN to call her a, and I quote, a "Fucking bastarding sour faced twat faced no common sense jobsworth (disablist word) twat"

I know who I think is acting like a twat here and it's not the ASDA staff, who as you acknowledge, went out of their way to try to help and find a solution to a policy which is clearly imposed on them. Yes the policy itself may be twattish, but seriously, your over reaction and personal insults to the staff here make you look like a bit of a twat faced twat yourself.

I'm liking twat faced twat as an insult though

Nits is a never end battle in this house. Not a month goes by where I don't find a pesky crawler on one of them (particularly my 6 yo dd). I actually have a box dedicated to the cause. It has 3 combs, tail comb, sprays, leave in conditioner, clips for sections, and wipes for the combs. I once paid a professional to de-nit. It worked but the fuckers were back 3 weeks later.

Just as an aside, you're not meant to keep children off with headlice at DS1's school in Australia either, it's not grounds for an "authorised absence". We do get at least 1 note home a term though, telling parents to please check their children and fucking DO SOMETHING about it as there are nits in the class AGAIN (NO of course it doesn't really say that, but it might as well! some parents just don't deal with it)

i wouldn't have time to treat nits for 4 kids either.

I have the time, it will just have to be after school. Littlest doesn't need treating (has hardly any hair!), so just 3 to check tonight. DH and I can do that between us easily.

Why didn't you say yes then OP?

I should have done. That is exatky what I'll say next time.

But because my initial answer was "well, I've not done a thorough check yet, but will be after school", she would not accept my subsequent pleas of "Yes, I have seen lice! Definitely I definitely did see live lice".

Part of the jobsworth behaviour I disliked - "well you didn't say that initially so I cannot believe you now". She could have pretended to believe me. Over a tub of headlice treatment, no one would have got arrested.

Christ almighty, you're a joy of an op. Why should the shop assistant override directions from higher up and possibly risk their job?

And if you were a mystery shopper she'd get hauled over the coals for pretending to believe you. I wouldn't do it.

And then you came on MN to call her a, and I quote, a "Fucking bastarding sour faced twat faced no common sense jobsworth (disablist word) twat"

Yeah. I was a bit ranty

I felt like ranting. I wasn't that ranty to the lady in question.

Exactly what IoraRua said about mystery shoppers. Possibly it's one of the key issues the pharmacy staff are being tested on and are specifically being told not to let people change their answers.

I don't know about this particular rule, but I do know that pharmacy staff have many legal obligations about following dispensing rules which they are simply not allowed to break. Yes the rule may seem daft, but the assistant was not being jobsworth, she actually went out of her way to help you. YABVU to be so pissed off.

Incidentally though you would think the paracetemol rule is daft too, since the pack size/purchase limit was introduced, paracetamol related deaths have been reduced (sorry don't have the stats)

I love a good rant. I give it 8/10. I loved twat faced jobsworth twonks but I would have liked more swearing.
If you can't come onto MN and have a good rant then the world's gone mad. Mad I tells ya.

See, you are making that up WorraLiberty.

NHS advise schools not to allow headlice as a reason for absence. "Most schools" follow NHS recommendation. Otherwise classrooms would be empty and have serious issues with their attendance figures.

No, see I'm not making that up, although I should have perhaps added most school 'in this borough' to my post.

Headlice is most definitely not a reason for absence, which is why most schools 'in this borough', have a policy stating parents should treat the lice and send the kids straight into school.

If children took time off school for nits they would take a lot of time off in our school.

We won't get it marked as an illness either. School are very clear that they have to go in. The problem is, it only takes one parent not to treat their child for the whole class to get it again and that is a lot of children off school. Or even a child who has them before their parent notices, and as someone else said, if your child isn't allergic they might not itch at all, so taking children out of school won't solve the problem of them spreading.

I have never had a problem buying lots of bottles of nit shampoo, ever.

OP, maybe buy one of these to keep at home in a drawer, then you won't need to send your kids to school with nits.
www.nittygritty.co.uk/site/home.asp

I took a louse to Boots in a ziplock bag a couple of years ago. Apparently policy here isn't to accept a parent's word, the pharmacy need to be shown the evidence. I did get free treatment though.

Maybe I should have held onto the bag in case I needed treatment again, I didn't think of that.

Will you be my new best friend FireCrotch

They also do free vag related goodies if anyone cares. Not the cheap stuff either. They Canesten'd me up good. is the fucking best thing I've read all day!