A Walgreens pharmacy customer was left feeling run over by their pickup experience and took to Reddit's r/mildlyinfuriating forum to share their understandable frustration.
The post shows a picture of a sign on the pharmacy window, which read: "Inside pharmacy is closed for the rest of the day but drive through is still open. If you do not have a car or a bike, please use Uber, thank you."
"This is a Walgreens in a city," the poster wrote. "I don't have a car. Not exactly sure how to "use Uber" to sit and wait at a busy drive thru. Wish I'd known ahead I could have gotten them sent somewhere else."
The post has received over 3,000 comments, and many commenters were quick to explain the many issues with this. Among them are that many people who need medications from the pharmacy can't afford an Uber, others have a disability and can't physically take an Uber, and it's apparently against Uber's policy to allow drivers to take riders through a drive-through.
Commenters also pointed out several reasons why Walgreens would enact this policy. The bottom line, however, is that whether the customer can afford it or not, if they arrive at the pharmacy without a car or bike, they should not be expected to pay for a ride through the drive-through.
Inconvenience and costs to the customer aside, this absurd policy also has an environmental cost: unnecessary idling cars. Idling cars produce about 60 billion pounds of planet-warming carbon pollution every year.
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Sitting in an idling car is also detrimental to human health. Thus, asking people — many of whom are already sick, considering they are at a pharmacy — to sit in idling vehicles is extra problematic.
People needing prescriptions have also criticized pharmacies for other wasteful policies, so this is clearly not a problem only Walgreens contributes to. However, this situation does seem extra out-there, and other Redditors agreed.
"'Use Uber' to pick up antibiotics you're already at the pharmacy for? This is peak absurdity," one wrote.
🗣️ How much time do you spend commuting in the car each week?
🔘 Over an hour a day 😭
🔘 30-60 minutes a day 🫠
🔘 Under 30 minutes a day 😐
🔘 I never drive to work 🚶
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
"God forbid I arrived by bus because Uber was too expensive," another commented.
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"I can't imagine having a society so car-brained that having a car is a requirement for even participating in society," one more Reddit user stated.
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