A Little Rite Aid Southern California Strike Rumor Mongering.

So....am I unemployed now or am I writer? I just spent a good 15 minutes staring out the window pondering that question. You'd be surprised how busy I've been with the writing stuff of late. Had to learn how to use the calendar function on my Blackberry I did. I've had that thing for four years and never felt the need to learn the calendar function until this month.

On the other hand, I still have a Blackberry, which would be a phone for the unemployed.

And I still start the day with an automated e-mail from CalJobs, the state website for those who aspire to better cellphones. You can set up a profile there, then have it search its database every night for the type of jobs you're looking for and report back to you first thing in the morning. Or second thing, after a cup of coffee that I can never seem to make strong enough. Wait. Third thing. Usually gotta pee right out of bed. And clean out Spooky's litterbox.

Anyway, the job listings are there when you're ready.

Yesterday's looked pretty promising for awhile, right up top there was a pharmacist position just down the coast a little ways. It wasn't a hospital, which I have my fingers crossed for if I can ever find one that doesn't require hospital experience, but maybe it was a cool indy, perhaps with a compounding practice. I think it'd be kinda cool to get some mad compounding skillz.....

Shit. It was Rite Aid. The company whose commitment to protecting scabs from hearing any mean words as they take part in the destruction of our profession is the reason I'm getting these e-mails in the first place.

On to the next one.....Rite Aid....dammit.

Next.....Rite Aid.

After that.....Rite Aid. I am not kidding you. Sixty-nine postings for Rite Aid pharmacists. Followed by another thirty-one today. This is one page of five:

 So...a company has 100 job openings for pharmacists, in one state, almost literally overnight. Let's use Mr. Brain and see if we can come up with any theories as to why.

I'll give you one clue. There are 124 colleges of pharmacy in the country today. I learned that while I was researching some writing stuff. In 2000 there were 81. Process that while you're thinking about whether the major pharmacist shortages of the 90's have returned.

You know, I'm in a good mood, so I'll give you two clues. Rite Aid is looking at the possibility of a strike in its Southern California stores.

I think we might have our answer.

A storm's coming my friends. And don't kid yourself. No matter where you work, or who you work for, this is a last stand. You know damn well what's happened to our profession in the last 20 years. If you need a reminder, next time you come home from work, I want you to look in the mirror, think about how your day went, and tell yourself you are a professional.

Seriously. Try it. Let me know how far you get.

If you ever want that professionalism back my friends, you're going to have to confront the forces that now control pharmacy. Try it yourself and you'll probably be as successful as telling that person in the mirror how valued you are for your medical skills. You need to get in the face of power and advocate for your interests, and if you go in there alone you will be chewed up and spat right back out.

Unions, however, get in the face of power and advocate for their members. That's pretty much their whole purpose. Lord knows they've done a half-ass job of it for the last generation or two, but the last scrap of infrastructure is still there, for now. With a lot of effort, it can be repaired. Once we lose this last bit though, it's gone forever.

How would you like a contract that says flu shot quotas are unethical? Only one way you're gonna get it. Repair that infrastructure and get in the face of power.

Or, you could always go to California City for $68 an hour. That has pretty much been the way of the last 20 years and you see where that's gotten us.  I always wondered how much someone's honor was worth.

I'm going to get ready for bed now. Looking myself right in the mirror as I brush my teeth, and sleeping tonight like a baby.