J. M. Johnson Consulting

[Part two of a series. Read Part One HERE. Continued. ]

After five minutes of waiting, I caught the eye of one of the employees as asked if I was in the right place to drop off a prescription.  She said yes.  She took the order and asked when I would like to pick it up.  I told her that it was essential that I wait for it.  She said okay.  The okay sounded like “you’ll be waiting alright.” Ooooookaaaaaaaay.

I looked at what I thought was the waiting area to my right.  I smiled.  There was only one person there.  Then the pharmacy tech said, “You may wait over there.  We will call you when it is ready.”  “Over there” was to my far left.  In that area, there were customers sitting, standing, squatting, pacing, grumbling and/or loudly complaining.  Some of the complaints were subdued and some were aggressive and loud. There were also customers who had drugs that cost them hundreds of dollars. Others were from out of state and had drugs that were not on their insurances formulary.  There was a customer who was on her way out of the country and she needed to fill her prescription to take with her.  There were problems with her order.

I immediately felt a surge of adrenaline.  Had I not needed that prescription that evening, I would have run out of the store and returned the next day, hoping that the coast was clear.  I had no choice.  It was necessary for me to endure.

The strategies that I used that evening as I sat in a corner chair included listening to an audio book, deep breathing, reading, prayer, positive self-talk and guided imagery. I went to the beach while I was waiting.   I also stopped looking at my watch every five minutes.

As I sat there working on my patience, I once again saw that I did not have anything to be upset about.  We have good insurance and had the ability to pay the co-pay.  Mindset and perspective are additional strategies that I use.

Patience is a virtue.

I decided that I was not going to become upset.  It was clear that I had no control of the situation.  Why, then would I expend emotional energy getting angry and anxious?  I decided that it was not worth it.  I made the choice to relax and go with the flow.  My energy is valuable.  I chose to practice what I preach with my counseling clients. We get to choose how we respond to any circumstance.   I endured and came out of the situation relatively cool and calm.  Whew!

Patience is a virtue.

Jennifer McClellan Johnson, MBA, MSSA, LISW-S