Oct 27 2009
Wrong Aid
A story that must be told:
Some facts that will be necessary for this story:
1. According to strict Jewish law one may not drive on Shabbat, use an umbrella, or handle money in any way.
2. For a deathly ill person, there is no such thing as a Shabbat law that we are not allowed to violate.
3. However: There are a ton of gradations of illness that might affect what laws may or may not be violated, and how so.
4. Some communities, Baltimore/Pikesville (supposedly) included, have arrangements with local pharmacies that if there are problems, the pharmacy can give a medication, take down the recipient’s information, and the recipient will come back and pay after Shabbat.
* * *
It was Shabbat afternoon. My wife was feeling very, very ill, to the point where she was beyond miserable, and could barely move.
I picked up Pikesville, Maryland’s guide to orthodox Jewish life, the Eruv List, having remembered that they have a guide for just these circumstances.
My wife and I determined that she was in the third category of illness, and I was permitted to walk to the pharmacy and get her what she needed. They listed three local pharmacies with arrangements with the community, so there should be no problem whatsoever.
The closest was a Rite-Aid about a twenty minute walk from my home. It was raining. I was tired. But my wife needed medicine, so I went on my merry way.
When I got to the pharmacy I spoke with two pharmacists and the general manager. Not only had they never heard of such an arrangement, the manager refused to even address the problem.
Here stood a soaking wet customer, promising to come back and pay in just six hours, hoping to get a thirteen dollar product for his wife who was suffering at home.
Nothing.
He couldn’t pick up the phone and call the owner to check. All was black and white. As long as he would get fired for leaving without paying for an item, there was not a chance I was stepping foot out of there with what I needed.
Customer service on par with Dell…
I walked out of the store, frustrated, a little angry, and panicked for lack of another solution.
I vaguely remembered another pharmacy an additional twenty minute walk away. Figuring I had little to lose, except for time, and possibly getting a terrible cold, I started to walk.
The rain became pouring rain.
And twenty minutes later I walked into a CVS where an incredibly caring and good-willed manager refused to even take down my contact info, saying that he trusted me and hurrying me out of the store so I could back to my wife.
And he did so with tangible sincerity.
When I returned home two hours after my initial departure, I checked the Eruv List again. This CVS wasn’t even mentioned!
I later asked the manager about everything.
He said he did what he felt was right morally, and most appropriate for the ethics of a true pharmacy.
He didn’t even mention the long-term professional benefits of such a policy!
He did the right thing, because it was the right thing.
The Rite-Aid (on 7 Mile Ln. and Reisterstown Rd.) has forever lost a customer (whether or not the mistake was their’s or the Eruv List’s).
The CVS (on Reisterstown Rd. near Shabsi’s) has forever gained a loyal patron.
Spread the word.
Good people deserve reward for being good people.
* * *
PS- My wife’s feeling much better, thank you.
