Letters: Aug. 11, 2008

About Jim Plagakis' June 16 article, "Pharmacy: Not a job for sissies," oh, Jim, I feel your pain! Literally.

I've been a community pharmacist for 30 years and carried two pregnancies to term while standing on that rubber mat. Did I use the ever-present stool? Never, unless I was working by myself some evening or weekend and the pharmacy was "dead." Did I have leg, back, and foot pain? Absolutely. Why didn't I use the stool more often? Simple. Because there is only one stool. No one else sits. When we are busy, it will get in everyone's way. And my biggest reason was the same as yours: Not wanting to be seen as lazy or as a whiner.

Now, at age 53, I have been stricken with multiple sclerosis. Now, all of a sudden, I CAN'T stand all day. Nerve pain, muscle spasticity, and poor balance would surely result in a fall if I tried.

Why couldn't pharmacies be designed more ergonomically, so ALL employees could sit most of the time, in comfortable chairs, with good back support?

If a single chain did that, wouldn't that be a HUGE recruiting feature? Even better than MONEY?

Drug Topics does an annual survey of pharmacists. Wouldn't it be interesting if you also surveyed the working conditions that pharmacists have to endure. It might give young people considering this career pathway something besides dollars to think about.

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