To have laughed out loud at this retail worker

[Shmee1988]

Today I went to a highstreet branch for some painkillers. I asked the lady behind the counter if they had some cocodomol. She said 'yes, we have our normal cocodomol and our max strength'. I asked if I was allowed to come and read the box and she said no (behind the counter so fair enough) I then asked if she could please explain the difference between the 2, I obviously meant the difference in strength in the active ingredient. Her honest to God, genuine response was 'yes of course, this one is our max strength version...... and this one ....is not'😂I was so taken aback by the utter ridiculousness of her explanation that I had no idea to respond, I just laughed. Anyone had anything similar or did I just encounter a particularly unknowlegable retail worker ?

I edited it for a typo. I didn't edit anything else. It was edited as soon as I posted it. I didn't change the title or the description lol 😂

It's relevant because even NMW workers need to have a basic minimum ability to do their job properly and safely. Basically, just because someone is paid NMW it's not a "get out of jail free" card to be incompetent nor useless at it!

Just to put things a little into perspective. I work in insurance. If someone called me for advice as said 'what policies do you offer and i said, fully comprehensive and third party' and they asked me what the difference was, I would fully understand that they meant what makes them different or one better than the other. I certainly wouldn't reply with 'well, ones fully comprehensive and ones not' ... is that the answer any of you that are jumping on me would seriously expect? Really?

There’s a difference between serving allergens and picking up an item in a retail store.

When asking someone selling otc medication I'd of assumed

of assumed?

What happened to your degree in English language and literature?

I do agree with you. My OH has cancer and is on long term cocktail of drugs. Often when his blood tests are reviewed, the oncologist will tell him some marker is low, sometimes iron, sometimes vitamin D, sometimes calcium, or potassium, etc., and her "go to" answer is always to tell him to go and ask at the chemists for a supplement. It's of no use whatsoever for the chemist counter staff to tell him that "brand A" includes Calcium or that "brand B" is iron-rich - he needs to know that they're the highest over-the-counter iron, or calcium, or Vit D or potassium, or whatever. And if the shop counter assistant can't tell him that, then he needs to look at the alternative boxes to compare for himself and to pick the one with the highest component of whichever vitamin or mineral he's short of. General multivitamins just don't hit the spot. He will often insist on asking the pharmacist if the counter assistant has no knowledge and he can't see a strong enough one by looking at the packs/boxes. The pharmacist will often be able to use their genuine knowledge to tell him exactly what he needs and offer to order it in if it's not something they have on their shelves (or sometimes they have it in the back room with the prescription drugs if it's normally supplied on prescription, but can still be sold over the counter, just not commonly sold that way).

I certainly wouldn't reply with 'well, ones fully comprehensive and ones not' ... is that the answer any of you that are jumping on me would seriously expect? Really?

I would expect you to reply with one's not ones.

@Badbadbunny yes, but I would hope that if the shop assistant misheard you / didn’t understand the question/ was having a bad day / didn’t know, you wouldn’t burst out laughing. Because let’s be honest, that’s what the AIBU is really about here

Not when the "retail store" is a chemist. The counter staff should have a better degree of training and knowledge, especially for anything "behind the counter" as there's usually a reason it's behind the counter and not openly on the shop floor! They are often giving "advice" to customers, and need to be aware of conflicts/counter-indications, etc. They're not selling tins of beans, they're selling drugs that potentially could be harmful if sold for the wrong reasons, to the wrong people, etc. Many times, they have to ask pertinent questions or give basic advice as to how to take, even an OTT drug, so yes, they do need a higher level of training and competence for the stuff that has to be kept behind the counter.

Again, it’s about the poster’s reaction
im sure that if she said ‘could you please compare the active ingredients in both medications’ she would get a more detailed answer

Well at least she didn’t say one’s in a blue box and one’s in a red.

I totally agree with you OP and I'm honestly staggered at the people defending the retail assistant. My understanding of your exchange with this woman was along the lines of:
OP: Do you have any cocodamol?
RA: Yes, we have our normal cocodamol and our max strength.
OP: Can you please explain the difference between the two?
RA: Yes of course, this one is our max strength version...... and this one ....is not.
Anyone who thinks the RA's final answer was in any way sensible or reasonable needs to give their head a wobble. When I read your original post I thought the RA's either not very bright, was being deliberately obtuse, or was being sarcastic (my instinct is the latter). Whichever, she's lucky she got someone like you who just chuckled at her reply - at best, she'd have got an "old fashioned look" from me.

Did you quote the wrong person?

And yet somehow you and others of your opinion don't seem to think it was incumbent on the retail assistant to say to OP, "Sorry, I don't understand what you're asking"?

OP shouldn't have needed to say this if the retail assistant was any good at her job. The RA's second response, IMO, was sarcastic and I'd have requested a different staff member to help me.

This reminds me of me, as an infant! My teacher kept saying “find the difference between 2 and 5” and I was losing my mind to the point of tears.

That is exactly how it went. I'm absolutely astounded at the amount of people who think my question wasn't clear enough. I'm not sure if she was new or she just didn't understand the question but either way the response she gave was quite funny in its ridiculousness

Oh goodness, sorry. You're quite right, I did

What sort of age was the assistant?

If I had to guess I'd say about 30 ish

I think I'd either have laughed, or not been able to keep a disbelieving look off my face, possibly followed up with 'no, I mean what is the difference in the active ingredients' which would definitely have had 'a tone'

What the hell else would be meant by asking what was the difference between the two?

How is it not objectively ridiculous just to re-read the title on the box, rather than have a look at the ingredients and respond appropriately?

Maybe if you asked the follow up question and said 'sorry I meant what's the dosage in each' then you would have both had a laugh and they might have realised they were being a bit slow that day. Instead you left it and probably looked a bit strange.

I think is some stores (like Boots) anyone on the shop floor can sometimes work behind a medicine counter so they don't always know what you mean. Ask to speak to the pharmacist would help you chose the right medication.

We did bith laugh, once I'd laughed and she realised she'd said something a bit silly. Plus, it's didn't leave i was just in a hurry so stuck to what I'd usually take and bought the normal ones.

It's unlikely to be the dosage TBH.

In Ibuprofen, the MAX strength generally just means 400mg tabs that you take one of, rather than 200mg tablets you take two of.

In Paracetamol, the dosage similarly doesn't change, but they add caffeine.

A quick search suggests that's probably what it is with the co-codamol - no change in the dosage of paracetamol or codeine, but added caffeine instead. Something that I would quite like to know if I'm planning to take it at bedtime, or if they're charging loads more for it (since I have a ready supply of tea and coffee myself)

Besides which - if you're selling medication, it's pretty important to know what you're selling no?

Is the ‘tone’ really necessary? Sounds a bit superior to me. Why not just say “ oh sorry i meant what’s the difference in ingredients”. It’s not that difficult to be pleasant (or is it?)