Drug Topics - March 10, 2008 - (Page 26) 26 DRUG TOPICS MARCH 10, 2008 www.drugtopics.com Community Practice JP AT LARGE Jim Plagakis My heroes over the years I met my first pharmacy hero when I was not quite 16 Street, was my second hero. He actually did share pharyears old, around 1956. This was my first real job macy secrets when I was an intern. Win told me that and it was right in the middle of the hottest retail compounding was a lost art and that pharmacists might district of Ashtabula, Ohio. The three blocks of Main as well not even bother to learn. He held up a bottle of Street where everything was happening. You bought Chloromycetin Capsules. “How can we compete with your clothes at Carlisle’s department store and your these? They are made perfectly by a machine.” Winfield furniture at Ducros. There were five drugstores in a is in Florida now, playing tennis. He’ll smile at his comthree-block area and each of them was flourishing. pounding prediction when he reads this. My hero was Dolph Hale, the owner of Cook Drug I was a Registered Pharmacist, 25 years old, at my Store. His wife Ella had me fill out an application. She first job in California. Angelo Lazzareshci was my mentold me later that it was a trick to see how well I spelled. tor, whether he wanted to be or not. For me, as a boy Spelling was important in the 1950s. I shook Dolph’s from provincial Ohio, I found the San Francisco Bay hand and he said, “Your mother tells me that you think Area as alien as the French Riviera. I walked very slowly, you might want to be a pharmacist.” observing it all. I told him that that was correct and he said, “Come Those were the days of being open from 9:00 AM to on back and I’ll get you started on the most important 10:00 PM. There was no gate to lock. Three pharmajob a pharmacist can do.” cists worked full time. The union feathered our nest. My shyness eased up and I followed Dolph to the I made more than twice the money I made in Ohio. back of the store, anticipating pharmacy secrets being There was no computer, of course. We typed everything shared right off the bat. We stopped near the bath- and calculated every price by hand. Angelo taught me rooms where on high shelves sat hundreds of bottles of how to play the odds at craps. We had free time. My chemicals. I looked up thinkfirst foray to Nevada was to ing that he was going to tell This pharmacy life South Shore Lake Tahoe. I folme all about something called lowed Lazz’s lessons and won. Bentonite. How could I ever One day, a doctor called in possibly learn all this? eight prescriptions for a paDolph cleared his throat to tient. Company policy said get my attention and, when that each has to be written I turned, he handed me a on its own blank and that we bucket, a pair of rubber gloves, filled in everything—patient’s some bathroom chemicals, and name, address, phone, etc. I a smile. “You will never be too was sitting there, whining and important to clean the bathcomplaining. “Why do we rooms,” he said. “I learned that have to write it all down on lesson when I was your age each prescription?” and I still clean the bathrooms Lazz tapped me on the today.” shoulder, “Jim, you said that I have never forgotten that you wanted to work when you lesson—my first lesson in a asked for the job.” pharmacy. I willingly empty A light bulb blinked over "We want you to come up with an ad that the trash every day I work my head. It was one of my best will give people headaches, Ridgly. and I clean dishes left from lessons ever. compounding. I have passed that lesson on to young people and, for some reason, it is a community pharmacist who lives in Galveston, Texas. You can e-mail him at jpgakis@hotmail.com and cc us at doesn’t go over as well as it did with me. drugtopics@advanstar.com. You can also check out his Web site at Winfield Sill, the owner of Wentlings on Main jimplagakis.com. Illustration: H. L. Schwadron http://www.drugtopics.com http://jimplagakis.com
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