Soda Jerk
Thor, at The Big Blue Pencil, has posted a story about an experience at Fair Oaks Pharmacy which may or may not be related to the recent change of ownership.
posted by South Pas Blogs at
9:26 AM
Building community in South Pasadena, California
posted by South Pas Blogs at
9:26 AM
3 Comments:
Every time I've been in the pharmacy I get stressed/frustrated. But it hasn't been due to the staff being dickheads, it's been because of how the place is laid out. There's no clear place to order or pay, and if you're sitting at the counter (or half-counter), people are ordering over you, food is being passed over your head, and dirty food dishes are being scraped and washed directly in front of you. I've noticed that every time I've sat down at a table it's filthy, but it's not like the employees are understaffed or not trying - it's just that there's no room for them to move around and they're tripping over each other. There's only one skinny little place for the staff to bring out orders/return dishes, and it's also used for customers to place and recieve orders. When the place gets packed (like it always is), if you're eating at one of the tables inside, people are hovering over you waiting to order, since there's no place for them to go. It's totally cramped in there. They should sacrifice some of the kitchy collectible displays to allow more room for the soda fountain and its customers.
Whew, guess I had a lot to get out there.
Interesting. I stopped patronizing the FO Pharmacy several years ago, because of an interaction with Michael that was just not "small-town friendly." That was bad enough - but it sounds like it's gotten even worse!
There goes my dream that someone will buy it, get rid of all the faux-retro I Love Lucy and Elvis kitsch for sale, and actually start serving good food in the beautiful setting that it has the potential to be. Ah well.
You are both right, but I guess I've always been a bit forgiving of the pharmacy's more recent questionable changes. I think that towards the end, Michael simply expanded the place far beyond what it's realistically capable of sustaining.
I believe the new owner will have to make some hard-nosed changes, despite what she says now. She needs to dump all the overpriced nostalgic baubles that no one ever seems to buy. Expand the counter and table space and do that right, or forget about it altogether. Make the pharmacy itself bigger, and perhaps lose the two side stores as well.
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