Is it ok to joke with customers?

[steveysmith54]

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This customer kept bugging me about giving him Viagra 100mg. I told him give me 10 mins (i had two other scripts to type before him).

I wanted to tell him, "one more word out of you and you'll be getting vitamins instead. Then you'll see how hard things can get".

 

[kbv]

all of licensed RPhs are very careful and sensitive about customers. we don't wanna give them a chance to complain about us, you know. besides everybody reacts differently to a joke. myself,for example, i can't distinguish the difference between a joke and a story, so i often get offended easily if that turns out to be a joke. so be very mindful about this.😳

 

[McZyprexalynn]

You have to feel them out first. I'm not much of a jokester myself, but I work with a pharmacist who is. He's said "This ain't McDonald's" to the people who complain about time and "No you can't take it, you still have to pay" to a pregnant woman who asked "Can I take this if I'm pregnant?" He's also got a good instinct for knowing whether or not people will be offended by it. Some customers really like it when you joke around, but you definitely want to be sure they won't take it the wrong way.

 

[sdn1977]

Yeah, I joke around, but rarely about medication and never about medication in front of people I don't know well.

Usually its me being the brunt of the joke, particularly when there are people around who might hear. I don't mind being the one folks laugh at.

Last weekend I was giving flu shots & this young woman was really, really scared & mentioned she was nervous. I was fast, tried to distract her by looking outside, kept the needle from her sight, etc., but she was still stiff as a tree branch. So, I jokingly told her she was not a very brave person & immediately stepped on her foot. Her deltoid relaxed & I injected.

She turned her head to look at me for being so "rude", saw me smiling and realized that I had distracted her mind & also made her pain impulses come from somewhere else, then laughed and laughed.

She asked if it was over & I said - you bet! Her husband told me no one had ever kept her from fainting. She left laughing......after I made sure she sat down for a bit.

This is a rare case when I jokingly made fun of someone's weakness.

 

[Old Timer]

The answer is: MAYBE.

You have to be very careful. You have to know the patient, know the situation and you better have excellent delivery.

This:

I wanted to tell him, "one more word out of you and you'll be getting vitamins instead. Then you'll see how hard things can get".

is a NO-GO. You can't really make fun of a patient's condition especially about this condition.

The longer you stay in one store/hospital/setting and the better you know your patient's the more opportunity you have to joke around.

 

[alwaystired]

I always want to make a joke and break up the mundane task of ringing people up, but it usually doesn't end up well. Somehow no one ever seems to be able to take a joke, so instead I just shut them out with silence--too risky.

 

[pharmdch]

Joke with your PIC or DM. "I'm having difficulty with my vision. I just can't see myself coming in today."

 

[dumbguy]

depends on the situation.

for me, i never try to joke to a patient about his/her medications even when the patient starts it. If it is a long time customer who jokes around alot, I would joke with them about their life,hobbies,politics,jobs,stuff... But if it's a new customer, i try to avoid jokes about personal stuff. When you tell jokes about personal business, it may seem the other person is laughing along, but inside they're slightly offended to some degree.

 

[no-see-um]

I don't joke with anyone in a pharmacy. It's a very serious job. And if I ever crack a joke, folks are like... "WOW, he cracked a joke", and respect it and roll because of the low frequency of these pearls. 👍

 

[dumbguy]

I don't joke with anyone in a pharmacy. It's a very serious job. And if I ever crack a joke, folks are like... "WOW, he cracked a joke", and respect it and roll because of the low frequency of these pearls. 👍

joking with co-workers is ok, but you must maintain a level of respect to them. When the joke is disrespectful, it is not funny. When jokes lead to discrimination or harrassment, it can get really ugly. In the retail pharmacy environment, we crack jokes everyday, but sometimes the jokes get very personal and it can really disrupt the person who is the butt of the jokes.