I don't either of us was technically going to be "winner"

[skeptic53]

My question would be this: It took a doctor to prescribe birth control in the first place, and a pharmacist to fill the prescription. How was it that none of these people ever informed the patient how to use it?

^-.-^

Fortunately I didn't prescribe the pills, she came to us for pregnancy care. But the prescription said "one by mouth daily", and she was not illiterate (just typical SC not reading directions). Blaming the providers for not telling her that pills are to be swallowed is right up there with the label "Do not use iron on clothes that you are wearing". The default is to swallow pills. We usually give instructions for suppositories or ear drops that they are NOT to be swallowed. That's a whole different category of dumbness... swallowing your hemorrhoid suppositories.

[Marmalady]

That's a whole different category of dumbness... swallowing your hemorrhoid suppositories.

Maybe that's not so illogical..... given the number of SCs who talk out of their backsides....

[terakhan]

I'm sorry, but I think all of these stories lose when compared to the lawsuits and complaints that created such brilliant warning labels as:

-Do not try to stop chainsaw with your hand.

or

-Do not insert curling iron into any orifice.

[Mytical]

I'm sorry, but I think all of these stories lose when compared to the lawsuits and complaints that created such brilliant warning labels as:

-Do not try to stop chainsaw with your hand.

or

-Do not insert curling iron into any orifice.

or the one that caused a large container to have a picture of a child in the container with the lid closing in a giant circle with a line through it?

[cinema guy]

I have had a woman complain that the screen was too big at the cinema.

[Wenchie]

Had someone the other day ask if the asterisk is the "one with the two dots?" And then it took me FIVE MINUTES to walk him through finding the asterisk on the 8 key.

[Chromatix]

My mother is an artist. You'd therefore expect her to be good at visual stuff. Yet she routinely has trouble finding an icon or button on the screen.

Once, I had to show her where the power switch was on one of our computers. She *had* turned on this particular computer before, and the switch was on the front of it, near the power and HDD lights, and explicitly *not* covered by the movable front panel (which did cover the floppy and CD drives). And this was 15 years ago, so if anything she was *less* senile than she is now.

I demand to be paid for giving her computer lessons.

[EricKei]

Tech support...Having to explain...

- the concept of "Desktop" (the background picture on your screen)

- right-click

- click

- the infamous "Any Key"

- icon

[Shalom]

I don't recall how I managed to make her realize that the further something is away the more it would cost to call no matter how long the call was.

Not necessarily. I remember a time when a call to another LATA within the same state cost less than a call to another state. Not to mention, calling Rochester from Buffalo, even though they were only about 70 miles apart, cost more than calling California, because Rochester had an independent phone company that was never part of the Bell system.

Had a patient who got pregnant because she put her birth control pills in her vagina.

That's exactly as bad as the one I heard (not personally, thank $DEITY, it was reported in one of the trade rags) of the woman who got pregnant because she spread the Ortho-Gynol on a piece of toast and ate it, rather than placing it where it belonged.

But not yet as bad as the story related by another pharmacist whose patient couldn't understand why she was pregnant even though she had birth control pills. Pharmacist was asking her, did you skip doses, did you take it with penicillin, etc., and she finally confessed that the pills were giving her an upset stomach, so her husband was taking them for her. Double fail there...

Actually, a woman I used to work with had one of the best (read: worst) calls ever. She spent quite a few minutes explaining to someone what the @ key is, what it's used for and where to find it on their keyboard. Thank god the customer decided to send his ad in via fax instead!

I understand that in German that's called an Apfenzahl, literally a "monkey's tail".

Then there's the octothorpe, which is what the # is technically called.

My roomie had a blonde moment last night, I think. We were at Claire's and she was looking for earrings she could wear. She's allergic to at least one kind of metal, but she's not sure what...

Bet you anything it's nickel. Very common source of allergic dermatitis.

We usually give instructions for suppositories or ear drops that they are NOT to be swallowed. That's a whole different category of dumbness... swallowing your hemorrhoid suppositories.

There's a reason one of my colleagues at the Aid of Rite always wrote "Unwrap and insert..."

- the infamous "Any Key"

I knew an Acer computer dealer who would supply as standard equipment a keyboard with the words "ANY KEY" on the spacebar. He'd printed them up on clear stickers and stuck them on before delivering the system. Apparently there really were people who were looking for it.

[Andara Bledin]

Bet you anything it's nickel. Very common source of allergic dermatitis.

There's actually a finish or something they put on non-sterling silver jewelry that will make me break out badly. If I ignore it for long enough for whatever it is to wear off, however, I'm fine.

^-.-^

[Tama]

I have a metal allergy myself and I too am not sure what it is.

I found out in a scary way...was wearing cross earrings and doing curl-ups and next thing I know my ears are bleeding.

On the bright side I now have an excuse to only wear gold.

[Alpha Strike]

My question would be this: It took a doctor to prescribe birth control in the first place, and a pharmacist to fill the prescription. How was it that none of these people ever informed the patient how to use it?

^-.-^

I've always hated this excuse when it's proferred by an SC. There's no way to refute it (at least not that's going to matter to an SC) and it's an easy way for the SC to avoid taking any responsibility for their actions - or lack thereof.

In this case I think you're assuming - probably incorrectly - that no one told her how to use the birth control pills. More likely is that she was told ad nausem and either ignored those instructions or forgot them.

And even if we assume that no one has ever said a thing to her about the way to take the pills, does it matter? She could have read the bottle, called a doctor or medical professional, gone online or done research in a library, checked in with a free clinic or - G-d forbid! - not had sex. Because if she couldn't even be bothered to spend 5 minutes on something as important as birth-control, should she really be having kids?