Don't praise my charm too much

2003-12-05 - 9:00 a.m.

I just heard from my scheduler that my Saturday shift has been cancelled. I'm not sure if I should be saying boo-hoo or woo-hoo. Woo-hoo, I don't have to work. Boo-hoo, I'm out 500 bucks. But I guess it really is a good thing because my aunt, her boyfriend, my cousin, and my grandfather are coming to visit on Saturday. My grandfather's birthday is on Sunday. He's going to be 86, I think. 86 or 85. There is some argument in my family over whether he was born in 1917 or 1918. But anyway, I guess it would be good if I'm here for that. My aunt's boyfriend is running in the Sacramento marathon on Sunday. It always rains for that marathon. And it's a pain in the butt because they block off all sorts of streets around here for it. I remember two years ago I had to go to work as an intern and I got really lost because my usual route was blocked off for the marathon and my back-up route was flooded from the rain. Hmmm...maybe that was three years ago...whatever.

So yesterday I worked an evening shift out by Arco Arena. It was possibly the busiest pharmacy I've worked in as a relief pharmacist. I don't like working the evening shift because that means when I come in the pharmacy is already in full swing and nobody has time to show me around and I just have to squeeze my way in and try to be as helpful as possible. Even as a quaking intern I never spilled any liquid medication I was trying to pour from one bottle to another, but last night I spilled twice. One was just a little dribble as I was pouring, but the other I spilled maybe a whole tablespoonful as I was yanking off the seal. I spilled it all over the sleeve of my white sweater. It was yellow extra-strength vicodin solution.

And I was asked out last night. Yeah, really. What did I say? Um, well... So an hour after I got there the tech who was closing with me arrived. We got to talking and it turns out that he graduated from high school the same year I did. He went to a high school relatively near mine and we had mutual acquaintences. He likes to travel and he likes to read and he likes languages, art, and history. He was reading Under a Cruel Star and he had other book recommendations for me, too. He was taller than me and not bad looking, but I have no idea when was the last time he washed his hair. At any rate, at one point he asked me if I would go dancing with him after work. See, I'm a dork and in my mind if I'm getting off of work at nine, the day is completely used up and all there is left to do is sleep, but apparently this isn't so for him, or quite a lot of other people for that matter. Just then, the phone rang. He answered it, it was a doctor's office phoning in a new scrip so he handed the phone to me. I took the scrip and then another tech called me up front to counsel a patient. When I got back behind the counter, he was hiding out in the back room. He came out later and we basically pretended like nothing had happened. When we were closing for some reason he was acting like he really didn't want to leave. I had to lean on him to get him out of there because I wanted to go home. As we were leaving he asked me if I knew how to turn on the alarm and when I said yes, he said good night and left me to it. As I was punching in the code he called out, "Next Thursday you have to come dancing with me after work!" And he was gone before I could answer. You see, I'm working the same shift next Thursday, and so is he. So now I'm wondering if I should go. I'm thinking probably not.