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Its never been an issue when a female professional actually survived a situation because I am not a celebrity and I have no hashtag of feminism, it is about both genders.
This is the story of every single male/ female pharmacist struggling here in Pakistan. There is no crisp in this story but I want to tell you that why Pakistan is losing professionals and what compelled them to move to other countries. Why there is a big lot of pharmacist community who are no more Pakistanis.
It was my belief that I will never run like a coward and the day came when I got graduated. In Pakistan, when you have to work at medical stores or pharmacies you are supervised by uneducated or completely illiterate people. They could be a middle pass but I was very lucky my manager was metric fail WELL it was my luck again that I got a job after a week of my exams at Pakistan’s most famous chain pharmacy. So from the very 1st day, they started bullying me like, ‘You are of no use because you are a pharmacist and the bonus is you are female (COMPLETELY USELESS)’ and they paid me less than a labor by saying that you have no experience. They were right. I am a pharmacy doctor and I needed the experience to earn so I started working shamelessly.
The very next day I joined that manager asked me to do his tasks too so I started doing his work too. Whenever I said no to his work as it wasn’t my job description, he started staring me like evil saying, ‘You have to do this otherwise you’ll be no more here and don’t even dare to tell the owner too’. People came and they respected me a lot that was a fuel that keeps me going.
I worked like a donkey for 8 hrs without any break. I thought it was the struggle people really talk about but it was the real stress or depression that filled me up with a fear of losing a job as 70% pharmacists are having no job or might be working at lowest possible wages ever.
I worked their constantly for 4 months with the unlimited amount of bullying, the manager used to shout at me regularly and insanely for no reason at all. Sometimes he pushed my chair bluntly to make me listen to him. He never gave me time to eat most of the times. I worked like a robot running all the time in Pharmacy. If I tried to sit, he changed my place to that counter where salesmen were running all the time to serve the customers. So as I was a female, I stood in some other corner to save myself from colliding with anyone.
He was so annoying and rude, he said to me, “why you did pharmacy? Does it have any scope, why you wasted your 5 years? Look at me! I am earning more than you without even learning you fool”. I lost my self-respect, my enthusiasm everything there in 2 seconds. I scolded myself and most of the times, I just waited for a moment when I’ll be a really empowered woman to tell that illiterate person some manners of talking but he was unable to behave as he never learned this word or maybe any word.
And the day came when he shouted at me saying you have to do my tasks now and I simply said NO! He was in so much anger, he pushed my chair and said: “Come again, what you just said?” I said a big NO to that kinda harassment or bullying that day and the next day they asked me for resignation. I left that job happily, Alhamdulillah!!!
As it was easy for me somehow because I was not supporting my family at that time but what if you are a male and you have to earn for your family who invested money to help you get such a great degree. Still thousands of girls/boys facing this mafia in health sector especially at pharmacies or medical stores. Now we have started raising our voice by making protests in every part of the country. We are making it clear with the slogan, “NO PHARMACIST NO MEDICINE”
The chemist mafia doesn’t even know what is written on medicine, they can’t even spell it but they are better than us because this is Pakistan!
Now, whenever you visit some pharmacy or see a pharmacist, never forget to pay him gratitude because he/she is earning a 10th part of what they could earn in foreign countries and only receive medicine under the supervision of a pharmacist. Soon we’ll be in leading countries with a better healthcare system!
