This really pi$$es me off

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Let's send mail to the address in the article.
 
This shows again that retail pharmacy is turning into fast food chain. Depressing ... Patient care is out the window with these types of rules.
 
That's awful...i'm forwarding this to my professors.
 
I sent an email and I will forward any contact information I get about who made this decision. I don't even work retail and I'm pissed about this. We've sat on our duffs long enough while corpo pharmacy has screwed us over. Eff that.
 
I sent an email and I will forward any contact information I get about who made this decision. I don't even work retail and I'm pissed about this. We've sat on our duffs long enough while corpo pharmacy has screwed us over. Eff that.

I totally agree. Most of corporate world does not care about pharmacy profession or probably patient safety as well: profit comes first.
Pharmacists get screwed over as well because we cannot practice pharmacy while we are too busy filling prescriptions within 19 minutes or less.
 
OH the lawyers are salivating I'm sure...the moment there's a dispensing error at one of these stores, you can bet that this press release will be Exhibit A at the trial (that is, if the company doesn't settle first).
 
yet another reason why i will never work retail.
 
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Now I know where I'm not applying after I graduate. 🙁 Heaven forbid that this (*&! reaches to other stores before I do...


zoomie
 
Now the customer has a reason to watch the pharmacist over the counter. 😡 Unbelievable!
 
thus another reason to own your own store. you can practice anyway you want. with these rules, forget about it....
 
I'm not sure I see the problem. If this offends pharmacist, and frankly it should, then simply don't work there. That will stratify the pharmacists that don't suck, with pharmacists that do suck. Eventually these stores will be sued into changing the policy or stop dabling in pharmacy. :laugh:
 
I sent an email stating my dissatisfaction with this nonsense. I heard from a walgreens rph that here in Fl the state board is looking to make gift cards illegal. The state board no longer gives a damn about corporate financials but rather the safety of patients!!! Thank f--k--- god. I cannot wait until them godforesaken develish $25 gc are abolished.
 
I'm not sure I see the problem. If this offends pharmacist, and frankly it should, then simply don't work there. That will stratify the pharmacists that don't suck, with pharmacists that do suck. Eventually these stores will be sued into changing the policy or stop dabling in pharmacy. :laugh:

Its offensive because i didnt go to f--k--- school for 6 years to give away god damn movie tickets and dinners and $25 gc for transfers. This isnt a freaking game show, it a profession. Seriously, if you dont see a problem with this, then I cannot help you. I am the antichrist when it comes to GC of any other incentive to fill a damn rx. Heres your damn GC now get out. Transfer in, transfer out, in, out, in out. Its out of hand. There should be no incentives or kick backs to fill an rx. If the wait is a hour, its an hour. End of rant...

Not mad at you KUmoose, just thinking about the gc I gave away today. Thats all...
 
I'm not sure I see the problem.

Ok, let's be real here for a second.

You can't see the problem? The problem is that it is a legitimate public health hazard. This goes beyond our quality of work or the legitimacy of our profession - this is something that WILL negatively affect patient care. This WILL put people ask risk for no other reason than marketing. Frankly, if I lived in the same state, I'd be on the phone with the Board of Pharmacy tomorrow demanding that something be done about this pharmacy's grossly negligent policy. This is no different than using medications that have been coughed on by people with ebola. This is just flat out ****ed up beyond belief.
 
Ok, let's be real here for a second.

You can't see the problem? The problem is that it is a legitimate public health hazard. This goes beyond our quality of work or the legitimacy of our profession - this is something that WILL negatively affect patient care. This WILL put people ask risk for no other reason than marketing. Frankly, if I lived in the same state, I'd be on the phone with the Board of Pharmacy tomorrow demanding that something be done about this pharmacy's grossly negligent policy. This is no different than using medications that have been coughed on by people with ebola. This is just flat out ****ed up beyond belief.
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: I <3 the analogy.
 
You make a giant mistake while trying to get that script out in 19 minutes or less, guess whose license is in jeopardy? Flush all those years of hard work down the toilet.

I will not work under those conditions, and neither should any pharmacist regardless of how much money is thrown your way.
 
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Its offensive because i didnt go to f--k--- school for 6 years to give away god damn movie tickets and dinners and $25 gc for transfers. This isnt a freaking game show, it a profession. Seriously, if you dont see a problem with this, then I cannot help you. I am the antichrist when it comes to GC of any other incentive to fill a damn rx. Heres your damn GC now get out. Transfer in, transfer out, in, out, in out. Its out of hand. There should be no incentives or kick backs to fill an rx. If the wait is a hour, its an hour. End of rant...

Not mad at you KUmoose, just thinking about the gc I gave away today. Thats all...

Actually you are mad at me, because you took it as a literal I can't see a problem. I see several problems with this policy. But the ultimate problem is that you fail teh interweb sarcasm. :laugh:

I see lots of problems with this and if were that worked up, I would bypass the company since they've already decided where their interests lie and move to the BoPharmacies covered by those stores, pharmacists working there and legistlatures in those states. Show them the litany of literature that says speed is inversely proportional to positive patient outcomes. Get the pharmacists to leave en masse from the store and picket. Grass root those *****s back into their bean counter offices.

That's what should be happening. The reality is there are pharmacist ****** that think patient care is, solely, not screwing up the prescription the doctors sends in, nothing more and nothing less. They look to do their 12 hour shifts make high 5/low 6 figures and go home. They are the pharmacists that they shouldn't bother with immunizations and that actually talking to a patient only happens when they're cute/hunky. They are the same people that sit in therapeutics class annoyed that they actually have to learn how to prioritize conditions and make recommendations based on that heirarchy and whine that they want to work retail why should they have to answer drug information questions "that's something /HOSPITAL/ pharmacist are responsible for and I wanna work retail." So do I see a problem with this? Yes. I just happen to think the bigger problem is that we are ineffective in bringing the right people into pharmacy, that will look to expand the borders of responsibility more then a corporate decission based on customer feedback.
 
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Actually you are mad at me, because you took it as a literal I can't see a problem. I see several problems with this policy. But the ultimate problem is that you fail teh interweb sarcasm. :laugh:

I see lots of problems with this and if were that worked up, I would bypass the company since they've already decided where their interests lie and move to the BoPharmacies covered by those stores, pharmacists working there and legistlatures in those states. Show them the litany of literature that says speed is inversely proportional to positive patient outcomes. Get the pharmacists to leave en masse from the store and picket. Grass root those *****s back into their bean counter offices.

That's what should be happening. The reality is there are pharmacist ****** that think patient care is, solely, not screwing up the prescription the doctors sends in, nothing more and nothing less. They look to do their 12 hour shifts make high 5/low 6 figures and go home. They are the pharmacists that they shouldn't bother with immunizations and that actually talking to a patient only happens when they're cute/hunky. They are the same people that sit in therapeutics class annoyed that they actually have to learn how to prioritize conditions and make recommendations based on that heirarchy and whine that they want to work retail why should they have to answer drug information questions "that's something /HOSPITAL/ pharmacist are responsible for and I wanna work retail." So do I see a problem with this? Yes. I just happen to think the bigger problem is that we are ineffective in bringing the right people into pharmacy, that will look to expand the borders of responsibility more then a corporate decission based on customer feedback.

Yeah, i did, i can admit when im wrong...:laugh:
 
Ok, let's be real here for a second.

You can't see the problem?

Normally I wouldn't double post but.... Of all the people, I figured you'd be the last one to bust my chops. I would have thought my whole response about advocating for major adverse events might have been a clue as to my thoughts on the subject but apparently I'll have to tag my posts [sarcasm][/sarcasm] from here on out.
 
I'm not done ranting... All corporations have gimmicks. Gimmicks to fill an rx. Publix and their free antibiotics...CVS and Walgreens with their gift cards and these other chains with promises that cant be kept. If I can get the rx done in 15 minutes i will do it. But i sure as hell am not going to rush just to make sure i dont give away a free dinner and movie tickets. This is absurd and demoralizes our profession. I 100% fault these corporations for what they have turned pharmacy into. If the company i worked for turned around and said fill the rx in 15 minutes or less or else give a gift card, i would walk. I would find simething else to do. Get an MBA..go to mail order...go do something else. It has gotten so out of hand that every day I transfer out a crap load of rx's...its a complete waste of my time. God damn, I could go on forever...It late, i have to get ready for tomorrows wrath at 7am!!
 
Normally I wouldn't double post but.... Of all the people, I figured you'd be the last one to bust my chops. I would have thought my whole response about advocating for major adverse events might have been a clue as to my thoughts on the subject but apparently I'll have to tag my posts [sarcasm][/sarcasm] from here on out.

Your typing, not speaking, its sometimes hard to pick up sarcasm...Like for example, at work I can be very sarcastic but my collegues can pick up on it from the tone of my voice. If I were to type to them my comments, I would probably be in HR department or speaking with employee relations...:laugh:
 
People, start calling the # below!!!! Their payscale is 115k to 150k in S. Cali and Nevada similar to other chains. Whoever prositutes their profession for that deserves to get hang.


Make a difference in the lives of the patients you serve as part of our successful, fast growing company! At Save Mart Supermarkets, we're committed to providing quality pharmaceutical care to our customers, and a quality workplace for our Pharmacy professionals. We provide the level of service that our patients tell their friends about, in a work setting that most pharmacists don't think is available in a community pharmacy - but you'll find it all here at Save Mart. Our well-staffed pharmacies, equipped with the latest technology, ensure that you can maintain the high standards of your profession. It also means tremendous opportunity to really know your patients, serve your community, and contribute to a growing pharmacy business.

Our commitment to our customers reflects our commitment to our associates. We support the professional development of our pharmacists through:

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In addition, we offer an excellent benefits package that includes:

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Save Mart is not just another Supermarket chain, where you're just another pharmacist. We're looking for skilled, knowledgeable professionals who want to commit to a rewarding career. For additional information on career opportunities with Save Mart, contact Erin Cabelera, Pharmacy Operations Supervisor, at (209) 574-6299 ext. 5109
 
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Since when is that a benefit. We do that all day, why would you want to do that on days off as well?

But 3 scripts in under 19min is seriously pushing it. One insurance problem and its over. Plus what do you do when there's 3 people dropping off 3 new ones at the same time? Screwed!

If I was working there it would be free movie night. Heck, people would probable wait for me to be working to bring in scripts
 
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My question is what about the people whose doctors need to be called? Do they then bill the dinner/movie out to the doctor's office for being slow?

Actually I got an idea how 19 mins can work. You just process 1 or 2 scripts at a time, and just tell the others waiting that we can't fill their prescriptions until the others are done. They customers will wait for hours, but technically it won't count toward the dinner/movie because they won't actually be getting their prescriptions filled at the time, just waiting to have a chance to have them filled!
 
I would be sure to take 20 minutes to fill the prescription, make the company pay for something like this. And I bet it wouldn't be too hard to find a new job if theres a demand and all. Any time i can take a stab at my corporation, I will and that doesn't matter who I work for. Shareholders and businessmen should not be running pharmacies, and to be honest by looking at the stock markets, they shouldn't be involved in that either. Let them eat their ignorant policies.
 
19 minutes! CVS only gives us 15 minutes. We have a wait time calculator in the computer. If someone drops off 99 scripts, the computer says it will be a 15 minute wait! I think if it's 3 or less, we are suppose to say 10 minutes, but it all depends on how busy we are.

A pharmacist I was talking to believes that this and drive thrus have ruined the profession. People are trying to get Plan B at the drive thru!

Sorry about the ranting and popping in drive thrus.
 
I wonder...I'm thinking it'll be like those price matching policies electronics stores have. The policy will be there, you can take advantage of it, but chances are you won't.

It's pretty insulting I must admit, but I think the instances where pt's are running stop watches and catching it at 19:01 will be pretty rare. If anything, pt will come back in 30, and if it's not done, maybe then.

Just a thought.
 
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That is absurd. If I worked for this company, I would be looking for a new job immediately and meanwhile, I would gladly hand out the free tickets to every person just to tick the company off.

I do second the suggestion to contact your state's board of pharmacy though. It should be illegal for a company to promote things like this.
 
My question is what about the people whose doctors need to be called? Do they then bill the dinner/movie out to the doctor's office for being slow?

Exactly! This is what i am talking about. You never see this, "Walk in...we'll treat you in less than 1 hour or we'll refund your money back plus a free dinner". NEVER, EVER.

Free antibiotics, 25 dollar gift card transfer, promise-to-wait time less than 19 mins..WTF? What's next? How about this "One prescription of viagra = one free condom + one free hooker that same day + a package of plan B 50% off"
 
This goes far beyond anyone working for this company. It's not a matter of don't like it, don't work there. We know that this gift-card-4-dollar-ass-kissing-drive-thru sickness spreads like the clap in a sorority house. The 19 minute promise will become the 18 minute, the 17, the 5 minute...

It's insulting to the entire profession. This is what I wrote to Ms Rockwell at the address given in the press release. No response yet. I must find the next person to write to...

"Dear Ms. Rockwell,

I am writing in response to your news release concerning the "19 Minute Promise" policy that has been implemented in your pharmacies. I'm very thankful I do not work in one of your stores where the work of pharmacists and technicians is so undervalued that it can be compared to pizza delivery. You state that accuracy is already in place in your pharmacies, and I beg you to consider why that might be and how that will change when pharmacists are forced to work faster under the pressure of punishment by lost revenue from having to distribute free "dinner and a movie".

I also beg you to consider how the attitudes of customers will change when they begin to look at HEALTH CARE in the same way they look at a Big Mac...although as far as I know, no one has ever been killed from a Big Mac where the special sauce was incorrectly applied. Is this really the image that you want your pharmacies to portray? One that values speed above all else? Have you ever worked in a pharmacy? Was a pharmacist involved in making this horrid decision? Is Ms. Snider a pharmacist herself? The advent of the $4 prescription has caused enough damage to the image of pharmacy by devaluing our work in the public mind. How would you feel going to a doctor that charged you $4 for a visit and guaranteed they could see you, review your health history and medication list, diagnose up to three conditions and send you out the door in 19 minutes or less? Would you feel safe? Would you feel that this is a doctor to be respected and that their work is valuable?

It is difficult enough to work in a field where you are punished for decisions of doctors, state laws, insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies and now this additional pressure is added? Do you not want your "patients" (I use that term loosely since clearly they are not valued by your company as patients) to peruse your store while waiting, therefore making additional purchases?

I do expect a personal response to this email as this policy personally offends me as a health care professional. If you are not the correct person to contact regarding this utterly asinine policy, I would like the name of the person with whom I should talk. It is high time pharmacists stopped letting corporate insanity dictate their work environment and jeopardize the safety of the people they have taken an oath to protect. It is people like your company, Ms. Rockwell, that have made me more than happy to leave retail pharmacy. I do not need to waste my nine years of college, my year of residency, and my doctorate on an industry that does not respect my knowledge and training.

I sincerely hope you consider what a disservice your company has done to its employees and its customers. And I sincerely hope that you don't have to find out the hard way what can happen when pharmacy staff are overworked and overstressed. And I pray you and your family receive their medical care from a pharmacy that values their health above all else lest an overworked, overly stressed pharmacist incorrectly fill your prescription."
 
haha, it's like 8 minute abs....what about 7 minute abs.

and MD's tend to be individual practitioners as of right now. I know the little clinics attached to retail pharmacies/stores have a 15 minute rule about seeing a pt....

...nothing as outrageous as a dinner and a movie. At least CVS, the wait is 15 minutes internally, but no such guarantee is explicitly given to the pt.
 
This goes far beyond anyone working for this company. It's not a matter of don't like it, don't work there. We know that this gift-card-4-dollar-ass-kissing-drive-thru sickness spreads like the clap in a sorority house. The 19 minute promise will become the 18 minute, the 17, the 5 minute...

It's insulting to the entire profession. This is what I wrote to Ms Rockwell at the address given in the press release. No response yet. I must find the next person to write to...

"Dear Ms. Rockwell,

I am writing in response to your news release concerning the "19 Minute Promise" policy that has been implemented in your pharmacies. I'm very thankful I do not work in one of your stores where the work of pharmacists and technicians is so undervalued that it can be compared to pizza delivery. You state that accuracy is already in place in your pharmacies, and I beg you to consider why that might be and how that will change when pharmacists are forced to work faster under the pressure of punishment by lost revenue from having to distribute free "dinner and a movie".

I also beg you to consider how the attitudes of customers will change when they begin to look at HEALTH CARE in the same way they look at a Big Mac...although as far as I know, no one has ever been killed from a Big Mac where the special sauce was incorrectly applied. Is this really the image that you want your pharmacies to portray? One that values speed above all else? Have you ever worked in a pharmacy? Was a pharmacist involved in making this horrid decision? Is Ms. Snider a pharmacist herself? The advent of the $4 prescription has caused enough damage to the image of pharmacy by devaluing our work in the public mind. How would you feel going to a doctor that charged you $4 for a visit and guaranteed they could see you, review your health history and medication list, diagnose up to three conditions and send you out the door in 19 minutes or less? Would you feel safe? Would you feel that this is a doctor to be respected and that their work is valuable?

It is difficult enough to work in a field where you are punished for decisions of doctors, state laws, insurance companies and the pharmaceutical companies and now this additional pressure is added? Do you not want your "patients" (I use that term loosely since clearly they are not valued by your company as patients) to peruse your store while waiting, therefore making additional purchases?

I do expect a personal response to this email as this policy personally offends me as a health care professional. If you are not the correct person to contact regarding this utterly asinine policy, I would like the name of the person with whom I should talk. It is high time pharmacists stopped letting corporate insanity dictate their work environment and jeopardize the safety of the people they have taken an oath to protect. It is people like your company, Ms. Rockwell, that have made me more than happy to leave retail pharmacy. I do not need to waste my nine years of college, my year of residency, and my doctorate on an industry that does not respect my knowledge and training.

I sincerely hope you consider what a disservice your company has done to its employees and its customers. And I sincerely hope that you don't have to find out the hard way what can happen when pharmacy staff are overworked and overstressed. And I pray you and your family receive their medical care from a pharmacy that values their health above all else lest an overworked, overly stressed pharmacist incorrectly fill your prescription."


Your letter is too nice...Here's what u should wrote and sent:

To Whom it may concern:

Are you insane? Do u know what u have done with that 19 mins or less crap? What is your background? Did u go to pharm school? Do u have a doctoral degree? Who do u think you are to push us, pharmacists to work with such condition? F* U!

In case u don't know, open your wide eyes to read on so that by the end of this letter, u'll at least know something. We, pharmacists, spend at least 6-7 yrs in college...obtaining a doctor degree. U heard that? a doctor degree...okay? Not just AA or BS degree..Our job is to ensuring the medications being delivered to patients correctly and safely; not how f*ing fast we fill. If u want a fast person to fill, then get a fu*king McDonald dude/dudee. They'll fill more than 100 scripts/hour for sure and u can make a promise like this: 5 mins or less....not even 19.

Who do u think you are Ms. Rocket? Wait until u get a doctor degree, then we can at least talk, otay? dumbazz. How about i let u work one day as a pharmacist and if u fill patient's script more than 19 mins, i'll put u on probation...cool? You idiot *****!
 
19 minutes! CVS only gives us 15 minutes. We have a wait time calculator in the computer. If someone drops off 99 scripts, the computer says it will be a 15 minute wait! I think if it's 3 or less, we are suppose to say 10 minutes, but it all depends on how busy we are.

A pharmacist I was talking to believes that this and drive thrus have ruined the profession. People are trying to get Plan B at the drive thru!

Sorry about the ranting and popping in drive thrus.

Get the F* out of CVS and find somewhere else while u can...RUN! You go thru school for so long....should deserve a lot better than this.
 
It goes to show you....no matter how bad you think your job is....there is always some place worse. Now we have $4, $2 and free prescriptions and soon it will be all that in less than 19 minutes.

Retail really is going to hell.....

The only solution is for Pharmacists to band together and refuse to work for places like this. When they can't hire any one but H1B visa holders and thier business goes to crap they will change there tune.
 
The only solution is for Pharmacists to band together and refuse to work for places like this. When they can't hire any one but H1B visa holders and thier business goes to crap they will change there tune.


Or they will just hire said lower-wage workers and laugh all the way to the bank. 👍


The writing is on the wall. Retail pharmacy has jumped the shark. It's become a sort of a satire of itself. God knows what they will think of next to further drive the dagger into retail pharmacy's heart.
 
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The pay is too high, there will always be someone who will take it and enjoy their paycheck when they get home. It's all about self-preservation. If you offered $120k to stare at a screen for 8 hours, deal with stupid phone calls, and do so quickly...of course someone's going to bite.

I remember doing all that for $10/hr. I have friends that do that for $30k/yr. Having an advanced degree does NOT buy you out of anything. I seriously doubt the majority of pharmacists out there have the fortitude or will necessary to come up with a strong lobby like AMA or various state nurses unions. The money is just too good and the working conditions are just not *that* bad on the retail level.

Again, my $.02, but until they require pharmacists to tap dance on the counter and sing while filling scripts, and until all these useless alphabet soup pharmacist organizations get their act together, you're not going to see much traction.
 
Ooh, I got a response from the pharmacy director....wanna see? She wanted to know where I had heard of the program and I had to tell her - the ISMP Safety Alerts. :laugh:

I also have email contacts if anyone is interested, PM me.
 
I put her words in blue.

Please see my response below.
I am sorry you are offended, but you have chosen to work in a Medical Center and not in retail. If you had a chance to work in one of our pharmacies you might change your mind.
It is nice that you took time from work to write about our program. I am not sure where found out about the program, but there is more information below of which you were probably unaware.
We support our pharmacists and value our patients, as I am sure that you do yours.


[edited out my whole letter again, to shorten the post]

...consider why that might be and how that will change when pharmacists are forced to work faster under the pressure of punishment by lost revenue from having to distribute free "dinner and a movie".
We are not requiring our pharmacists to work any "faster." We are providing a comfort level to show our patients that they are valued and do not have to stand in long lines, and wait for hours, like we have seen at competitors that offer the $4 programs. We are not punishing anyone for lost revenue. It is a total store promotion to get our patients to become store customers. We made sure before starting the program that we were not promising anything that was not already being done.

Is Ms. Snider a pharmacist herself? Yes, I am. The advent of the $4 prescription has caused enough damage to the image of pharmacy by devaluing our work in the public mind. We do not have a $4 program.

😕 point being????

...Would you feel that this is a doctor to be respected and that their work is valuable?
Our patients have had positive comments about the program. They are glad that someone recognizes that their time is valuable. The time is to "fill" the prescription. Only new rxs that are "valid" with all required elements and no third party issues and no need to consult with the physician that are not covered by government programs qualify. The counseling takes place AFTER the rx is filled and is not in the time qualification.

Good luck trying explain THAT to patients :laugh:

...to peruse your store while waiting, therefore making additional purchases?
We do; that is why we chose 19 minutes, about the time it takes to buy a dinner for the family. We let our patients know they can shop the store, thus avoiding the wait at the counter which puts pressure on pharmacists and technicians.

...I do not need to waste my nine years of college, my year of residency, and my doctorate on an industry that does not respect my knowledge and training. We conferred with out pharmacists before starting the program. Almost all agreed adamantly that they do have less of a wait time than our larger competitors and they are comfortable with the program. It is not about going faster, but about rewarding patients if they have an extra wait.

... I sincerely hope that you don't have to find out the hard way what can happen when pharmacy staff are overworked and overstressed. We provide maximum staffing, much more than our competition in order to process prescriptions safely. We have automation in all of our highest volume stores so that we can do the same. We provide our pharmacists with flexible schedules and minimal OT with no pressure to work extra. We have many part time pharmacists and a float team to cover stores.
 
Sounds like a typical PR response, BUT I should add that it seems to be nicely done.

They should just hand out those vibrating pagers like at Cheesecake Factory that buzz when your Rx is done.
 
Sounds like a typical PR response, BUT I should add that it seems to be nicely done.

They should just hand out those vibrating pagers like at Cheesecake Factory that buzz when your Rx is done.

This whole thing is disgusting.
 
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