{"id":16516,"date":"2018-10-10T09:00:33","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T16:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=16516"},"modified":"2018-10-05T14:57:39","modified_gmt":"2018-10-05T21:57:39","slug":"lets-talk-on-privacy-the-pharmacy-and-gender-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2018\/10\/10\/lets-talk-on-privacy-the-pharmacy-and-gender-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Talk?<\/em>: On privacy, the pharmacy, and gender expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"

As woke as I am, I am also desensitized to the daily chip-aways I experience as a woman. Even when they happen, I don\u2019t speak up as much as I should. This was brought to my attention recently when I went to the pharmacy with a friend to refill a prescription.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I walked to the drop-off counter, where there was a little sign asking patrons to maintain a respectful distance for the privacy of others. Fair enough. I mean, who wants Joe Blow behind them knowing they need their hemorrhoid cream refilled?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Let’s Talk?<\/em> is a column exploring women’s rights issues; it’s in every issue of Nexus<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, I stood there, and the pharmacy assistant sat at a desk about 10 feet away from the front counter. He looked up at me and, without getting up, asked\u2014in full voice\u2014what I wanted. I told him I\u2019d like to fill a prescription. He asked\u2014loudly enough that I questioned the point of a sign asking for space for privacy\u2014for my personal info: my last name, first name, date of birth, which I provided with my best \u201cclass presentation volume level\u201d voice, despite the butterflies in my stomach.<\/p>\n

After I clarified from across the abyss of the desk that I indeed go to Camosun, and yes, sir, I had paid my tuition, he asked what prescription I wanted to fill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m not one to care about these types of things, but having to project across a pharmacy that I needed to refill my prescription for birth control seemed like a gross invasion of my privacy\u2014plus, come on! Sign!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He clarified an aspect of my prescription with the pharmacist, who was even further away from us\u2014but don\u2019t worry, the assistant said it loud enough for the pharmacist to hear without having to get up from his desk.<\/p>\n

After being informed that I could pick up my prescription in an hour, I shuffled out of the pharmacy. Once out of earshot, I hesitantly asked my friend if he thought the pharmacist\u2019s behaviour was inappropriate\u2014the not-so-colourful version of his answer was \u201cyes.\u201d Yes, he did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He wanted to know why I didn\u2019t say anything. I should complain; it had to be a violation of some kind of code of ethics. He said I should say something or he would. I, very uncharacteristically, shrivelled into myself and assured him I would.<\/p>\n

I never did. Because the reality is, if he\u2014being a cis white male\u2014said something, he would be assertive and probably get an apology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If I did\u2014if I hollered back across the counter that I wasn\u2019t comfortable shouting my information, if I suggested homeboy get off his booty and come talk to me at the desk like he\u2019s supposed to\u2014I would be labelled as \u201cdifficult,\u201d and probably be referred to as the \u201ccrazy lady customer\u201d for the rest of the day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I wish it were different. And maybe one day it will be. Maybe the pharmacist will read this, and realize that just because someone holds power doesn\u2019t mean they should abuse it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As woke as I am, I am also desensitized to the daily chip-aways I experience as a woman. Even when they happen, I don\u2019t speak up as much as I should. This was brought to my attention recently when I went to the pharmacy with a friend to refill a prescription.\u00a0 I walked to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,220],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-october-10-2018"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16517,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16516\/revisions\/16517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}