To Tell Or Not To Tell

My son said he didn't feel well and asked if he could stay home.  I took him to the doctor because, honestly, I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t pulling the wool over my eyes, even though, that’s not like him.  Turns out he has strep throat.  I felt bad for even thinking he was playing me, but he is my son, and when I was young, I’d mixed up a concoction and put it on the toilet and act like I was going to keel over just to stay home for a day and have the TV to myself.  (We only had one TV and I was the youngest.)

So, I go to Safeway and turn in my son’s prescription, semi-grateful that I can take a day off of work (sad I know).  Fifteen minutes later, I pick it up and immediately know that it’s the wrong prescription.  The bag is rattling and the prescription should be liquid.  I tell the pharmacist (who has to be not a day younger than seventy five) of his mistake, and he shuffles through several bags to get the right medicine.  Then he tries his damndest to refund the difference of what I paid.  He’s pushing all kinds of buttons, swiping his card, but the drawer won’t open.  He asked a young woman who works beside him for her help and she rattles off some instructions with a frustrated tone.  He starts pushing and swiping again.  Still nothing.  So the young woman comes to the cash register and hits a few buttons and then says in an ill manner, “Why are you acting like this is the first time you’ve done a refund?”  He then replies, “I probably shouldn’t be working in the pharmacy.”

After my initial outrage of the woman, who obviously had a thorn in her ass for speaking to an elder like that, I thought, fuck!  I was thinking the same thing.  This man does not need to be distributing medicine.  Not because of his age, but because this is the second time the pharmacist gave me the wrong prescription.  I let it go the first time because everyone makes mistakes and I didn’t want him to get fired.  But this isn't any ordinary mistake - like emailing the wrong file.  Someone may not be so lucky and, without even looking at the label, trust that the medicine they received is correct.  I immediately recalled, a kid that died two years ago in Leesburg, VA, right up the road, when he was given the wrong prescription.  

To tell or not to tell.  I asked three people, and they all agreed.  Tell before he accidentally kills or hurts someone. 

Ugh!