*does a little victory dance*

But as with all things, it can only get better!

Below is part of my conversation with a patient today:

“Hello, Mr Smith*! Here is your medicine. Are you expecting three items today from your doctor?”

“Oh yes, yes. He told me I have high blood pressure…something like 165/105…is that good?”

“Well, it would definitely be better if it was lower.”

“Really? I thought if I had a higher number it’d be better…like a score? The higher the better?”

“Oh no, unfortunately it doesn’t work that way.”

Trust me, it was REALLY difficult to keep a straight face because the patient was so animated when he told me his theory.

Thankfully, it was just Rory being a very “interesting” patient for me to practice on while doing assignment 4 today.

*So there was no Mr Smith.

Strong magnet, yo!
Won’t want to put that near any of your cards.

It’s my name tag/badge! Won’t leave any holes in your clothing and so much more convenient to put on/take off.

Apparently for this canggih-ness, you’ve to pay about $20 for it (well, we don’t need to pay but that’s how much it costs the company)…and in December (hopefully!) I’d get a new one.

I remember the berdebar feeling while being all new in the company; having to attend the first CommMeeting on the first day of work – to stand in front of everyone (and webcam) to introduce myself.
I was comforted by the fact that I wasn’t the only one that day – that is why until today, I feel a connection between Willie and I. We both plunged into this profession, having no previous experience, wanting something completely different+challenging and we were both from jobs that didn’t really have anything to do with what we were stepping into.

It was also because our product portfolios are similar in sense of customer base and territory (whole Malaysia, one rep, travel all over) – so we were able to empathize with each other’s experience in the world of being a new sales rep (*cough*ProductSpecialist*cough*)

Our plan to have the yum char session to talk about our experiences (to support each other) being all new in this sales job (together with Alvin, who left the IT side to join the PrimaryHealth team) never came through.

—

Completely off-track: Photos with borders look so much nicer! Macam postcard?
The photo on top is the KL skyline, taken from Poreiz’s balcony at GurneyHeights.

Those who work weekends (I’m talking about pharmtechs – my placement and roster is currently the same as the techs) would have to clear the bins of “unwanted” meds (scripts that lived in those bins for more than 2 weeks) and I would use any free time I have to start clearing them earlier so I would not be too swamped on my Saturdays because on Saturdays/Sundays, only one tech would be around to help the pharmacist.

There wasn’t any time in these two days!!! Crazy isn’t it?
We’ve been THAT busy.

So tomorrow (I foresee) it’s going to be quite busy – what with having Rory in the early shift (through observation, he seems to attract madness! )

It doesn’t help that now I’ve been introduced to my folder today – the one which I’m supposed to keep updated with my daily/weekly/monthly sales performance (warao! And I thought I’ve left the rat race of sales!)…and we’ve been given NEW books for our OTC training.

After spending my lunch time trying to complete the old book (which I only got in June!), they now have a new books, new system and new items on the CompleteCare cards. And we’re behind by a week…so by tomorrow I’m supposed to finish 10 cards!
That’s 10 common ailments!

*sigh*

The good with the new system is the incentive.

But it’s not that easy.
We’ve got to sell two or more items on the card to be “eligible” to scan the card so that HQ would be able to track our sales. We’ve got individual logons so it’s possible to track individual performance. If I’m not mistaken, cash incentives yo! For individuals and store.

*wiggle eyebrows*

All those things going and itu belum count my ethics assignments, law prep notes, studying for my law exam, going through my pharmaco, going through the available meds in NZ…GARGGHHHH!!!

It’s no wonder I’m stressed.
When I’m stressed, I just want to cuddle up in bed and not get out.

Indeed, today I felt so…irked.
Maybe I’m being big-headed and proud but I did not like how it was all too…rigid.
Everything by the book meant more work, more time, more waste.

Seriously.
Waste of paper (save the environment!) for printing out extra information just for you to read and chuck away(!!!), waste of time because you had check everything 19389164672 times over (okay, I exaggerate) and you didn’t even notice that the patient was not happy for waiting so long, waste of work in terms of getting things sent back/copied/sent over/etc.

*sigh*

When it’s a different charge person, you’d have to switch your practice according to their preference. It’s a pain sometimes (cewah! Only 2 months complain so much…) but I still respect them, so I will refer to them when problem arises.

The funny thing is that for one person, it may be a problem…for the other, they’d expect you to just use your common sense.

Chameleon, I am, in this job.

So. Like I asked Leech, where’s Ho Chi Minh? And where’s Phnom Penh?

If you don’t know, nevermind. Google it. It’s not a crime to not know but it’s a crime to not know and yet make as if you are soooooo sure! Can make people cry, yea? And this was what literally happened.

Suddenly this officer approached AhLeng to ask her to tell this sobbing lady that her ticket is to Phnom Penh (the lady calls it “pon pon”) and not to Ho Chi Minh because AirAsia doesn’t fly there. Ah! She said a friend booked it for her, that she paid RM1k(???!!!) for her tickets from JB to KL to “Ho Chi Minh”. Initially we thought, “Ah! Kena con ady!”

She was crying her eyeballs out! She’s very fair and you could see how hard she was crying judging from the redness of her cheeks, eyes, nose and lips. Poor girl! She was all alone, wearing a cap sleeved t-shirt and denim miniskirt! How to tahan the cold if she has to stay overnight in the terminal

Right. It all started when she asked Kamal about her ticket. She asked the right person because he’s very nice. When he told her that her ticket goes to Phnom Penh (CAMBODIA!) and not Ho Chi Minh (VIETNAM!), she started crying. That’s when those people came to look for help lah! They asked her if she wanted to board the flight. Apparently when she reaches Phnom Penh, she could take a bus (about 3 hours’ ride) to Ho Chi Minh (or was it just to Vietnam only? *shrugs*).
The catch is this – that AA lady told her, “You want to go on this flight or not? If you don’t want to, I’ll take you out and get your bag back.”
Thereafter, the plan was to take her to the main terminal building to get a MAS ticket to Ho Chi Minh. She’d rather pay extra to take MAS rather than going to Phnom Penh because she’s not familiar with the place (and does not speak their language!).
She was asked again, “So are you sure? You don’t want to go on this Phnom Penh flight?” (Note : It’s only ONE flight a day, if she misses this one, no more later flights. Furthermore, they won’t refund her ticket.)
Of course with that promise that she could go to the main terminal building to catch a DIRECT flight back to her desired destination, who wouldn’t take it?

NOW! After she said she’s definitely not going to Phnom Penh, the AA lady took her out just to be stopped at the immigration counter. Hoik! Her passport was stamped “out” of Malaysia already, how to suddenly be free walking around in Malaysia again?! She was taken back into the waiting area and what else? Cry lah!
The other disadvantage was that she couldn’t speak fluent English. If not sure AA kena taruh already.

In the end, she was told she would still have to go to Phnom Penh. That her previous ticket is “burnt”. She’d have to buy another ticket to Phnom Penh(!!!) and it’ll cost her RM300+ AND she’d have to stay overnight in the waiting area because she cannot go back “into” Malaysia and cannot leave for anywhere else!!! Phnom Penh was the nearest she could get to Ho Chi Minh. In the end, she would STILL have to go to Phnom Penh.
If they didn’t promise that she could CHOOSE where to go, she wouldn’t need to spend extra money, to waste extra time. Poor thing! She could’ve just gone on that flight. The best thing is, they took her “luggage” out from the Wednesday flight. This other AA guy came to ask me to tell her that they now need to check her bag for any besi.
When she went to the bag scanner, she shook her head violently and cried!
Again! We were thinking was it that she’s been cheated to carry drugs or something! *hehe* So the drama, right?
Turned out that they took the WRONG BAG! No clothes to wear. Her bag is in Phnom Penh and the owner of the bag that’s sitting in front of her is in Phnom Penh. How nice.
AhLeng and the LancomeGirl gave her a denim jacket and sweater each. The jacket was for her to wear and the sweater was for her to cover her legs. AhLeng even made her a cup of Milo. She had no choice.
Actually, she would have a choice if she could speak better English. Kamal told us that if the immigration side says “OK” for her to go to main terminal building to fly by MAS, she could go. The thing is, the AA lady told us that people from AA would need to accompany her there and makes 100% sure that she gets on her Ho Chi Minh flight…and that AA does not provide such a service! They say that it’s the girl’s fault for trusting this “friend” and it wasn’t their fault she got the wrong ticket!
WAH!!! This is what you call “customer service officer”?!!! Pfffft!

If they told her earlier that she couldn’t leave the waiting area, that she couldn’t take the MAS flight…she would have taken the Phnom Penh flight. They gave her a choice. A choice any sane person would take instead of going to somewhere strange and foreign!

Heh-lo?!
AFTER the flight has gone, another scene emerges.
Apadah!!!

I was so pissed on her behalf that I cut my own hand while cutting up some boxes for display.

Why I asked where’s Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh? Apparently this girl is not all that daft lah! She actually saw her ticket and asked the person at the check in counter (this is what she told me after she paid for her second ticket to Phnom Penh!)…”This says Phnom Penh. I want to go to Ho Chi Minh…Vietnam. Would this get me to Vietnam?”

The person said, “Yes! Phnom Penh, Vietnam…same!”

So she continued and walked to the international departure gate and asked the security, “Does this go to Ho Chi Minh international airport?”

“Yes!”

Finally, she asked the person at the immigration counter, “I want to go to Vietnam, is this ticket to Vietnam?”

“Yes.”

She still felt dubious and finally asked Kamal, “Does this go to Ho Chi Minh?”

“No. This goes to Phnom Penh. It’s Cambodia, we don’t fly to Vietnam.”

AH! See? There’s even this lady from the duty free store, “Eh! Phnom Penh, correct lah! In Vietnam mah! Same country as Ho Chi Minh! Like KL and JB, both in Malaysia.”

???????

I told AhLeng (because she was the one who told me what this lady said), “Penang also a few hours away from Bangkok. Does that mean Penang and Bangkok in the same country?”

I guess this lady made that comment when she heard about the bus ride from Phnom Penh being 3 hours away from Ho Chi Minh. Man! My geography is bad! At least I ask again to know where’s where. These people all taruh only!

Ah! Drama at work.

On a different note, I’m going to miss this person when I go back to MTB. She’s one of my favourite if not the only favourite person to work with. *hehe*

This is what I heard happened today. For the accreditation of the hospital. This doctor decided to “test” the knowledge of a few randomly picked attendants working in the pharmacy department. He (the doctor) picked Sam, Nas and Foo.

In front of these good people, he asked…

“Apa yang kamu akan buat kalau seluar dalam Foo terbakar?”
[What would you do if Foo's underwear's caught fire?]

*At this point of the story, I was like “WHAT?!!!”

Nas replied matter-of-fact-ly…

“Saya rasa, soalan itu cuma akan ditanya oleh orang dari wad sakit jiwa.”
[I think this question would only be asked by a person from the psychiatric ward.]

*rolls on the floor laughing*

It was sooooo darn funny that even now when I’m typing this I’m laughing my guts out!
Okay, it may not be funny for you but if you could see their faces, know who they are…it’s terribly funny.
*hahaha!*

Nas is often a pain to some of the pharmacists but this time, he was well “praised” for his “good works”.
*hahaha!*

Look. Which moron would ask such a question? What on EARTH has it got to do with the hospital’s accreditation? It’s so funny yet frustrating.
*hehe*

Went for a rather thorough blood test. All you could think of.
Uhm…well, almost.

End result : 20cc of blood had to be drawn out.
*ack!*
*faints*

That’s a lot.
Well, at least it is for me – where my first experience was just last month. That was about 10cc. At least the syringe looked friendlier. This time around – 20cc syringe. D’you know how big is the syringe? It looks bigger than my fat butt.
*hehe*
Whoa!

Thankfully, when it came to my turn, the Medical Assistant decided to just jump straight to using an infusion tubing rather than the normal syringe-needle method – previously when Joanne was there, he used the normal syringe-needle method and she ended up with a bruised arm. It was a painful experience, too!
*phew!*
Jin Song was also given the same “treatment” as Joanne – whereby the Staff Nurse used the normal syringe-needle method on him…got about 5cc of blood and went, “Aiyo. Cannot la, not enough.” She disposed that syringe and started with another fresh 20cc syringe!!!
At least Joanne was 10cc normal method and 10cc infusion tubing. Meaning total blood withdrawn from Jin Song would be 25cc!

*eeeek!*

*faints*

And I didn’t want to look at blood flowing out from either of us. But I had no choice since the MA couldn’t “find” the vein on my right hand, I hand to turn and face Jin Song who was sitting on my right – to rest my left arm on the table. I could feel my knees all wobbly as blood was coming out of his arm and into the syringe.

*faints again*

And as usual, I was madly giggly!
UGH!
So stupid but yet so afraid!
*hehe*

So that was how my day went.

This whole thing reminds me of drug dependent people (drug addicts, to be blunt) getting their fix. But it was actually just patients getting their daily nebulisers for their asthmatic conditions. *hehe*