The Boy Who Loves Drugs
I got off the bus to be greeted by my mother who was waiting in our Honda Accord. “Hurry up Sam, you’re going to be late to your interview,” cried my mother as I hurriedly stepped in to the car and fastened my seatbelt. It was early March but the bite of the winter air made it feel as if it were still January. As we zoomed off, my mother handed me a bottle of gel and told me that I should at least look presentable for my interview at Walgreens Pharmacy. My mother knew full well that I didn’t want to work for Walgreens and I only agreed to take the interview because I was in desperate need of a job. My sister was enrolled in the pharmacy program at UW and also worked for Walgreens. I did not want people to think that I was following in her footsteps. My interests at the time were in computers and network security, and thought that pharmacy was a job only suitable for women and more feminine men. I never thought that in the months to come that I would come to truly enjoy my work and wanted to build a career in this field.
I arrived five minutes early and was shown to the lobby. My interview was scheduled at 4:30 pm and was told by the secretary that the supervisor was visiting a different store and would be arriving shortly. I waited patiently in the silence of the lobby which was only disturbed by the clicking of the secretary’s keyboard as she busily did her work. The time was now nearing 5:00 pm and there was still no sign of my potential boss. I began to feel foolish and began wondering if I had been mistaken and my interview was set at a different time, or possibly even a different day. While still deep in thought, a sharply dressed middle-aged women stepped in with a frantic look on her face. She glanced around in panic realizing that she was nearly forty-five minutes late for an interview that she had set up. She apologized and introduced herself as Sepi, the Pharmacy Supervisor for the Seattle District. She led me into her office which was rather small and shared with another supervisor. The interview did not last ten minutes and I was hired on the spot. She congratulated me and I left with the feeling that she only hired because she was sorry for being late.
