Quote Originally Posted by TurboALLWD
Yeah I am passionate about this as you can tell, when I say about this, I'm talking about patients, including my brother, that need meds to live a good life. When a dispensary charges what I consider street prices, its hard for me to not look down on them when I know their pulling a get rich scheme.

You say you're making less than you were as a bartender? Shame on the dispensary owner you work for that pays you such low wage for running that shop.
And what you're doing is noble.

I remember the first time I lost a patient. And not because they signed up with another caregiver. It stays with you.

The first time I met her, she was with her daughter and son in law. I came in on my day off to check on something I don't remember. We have a lot of paperwork, and she was smart enough to be leery. Or spry. I went through every word of our paperwork and we cracked jokes as I went along.

She asked a lot of questions because she was scared. Her son in law had wheeled her up a flight of stairs, backwards, to arrive in one of the least pleasant dispensaries in the city. Immediately feeling uncomfortable, she asked him to take her back down.

It took courage to come and see us. We don't let people past our security door to peruse. It's for everyone's safety. She gave us her trust.

We talked about alternatives to smoking, because she was in the end stages of terminal cancer. We told her where she could buy vaporizers that were cheaper than ours, because that kind of treatment leaves you with nothing. Especially hope.

Her son in law (her caregiver) would come in now and then, after we worked out special paperwork, to pick up something for her. I felt that helplessness you feel when you realize you're only alleviating symptoms, not curing a disease. It's so hard to feel like what you're doing is all that great when you have to watch someone die. I wanted to believe we were doing miracle work when I felt like we were really false prophets.

But it's neither. She had a quality of life that many people aren't afforded. I can't beat myself up because there wasn't anything I could do. We start tomorrow just like we started today, one patient at a time.

And she wasn't my family. I can't fathom what you're going through.

Honestly, my owners make less than I do. We built The Releaf Center off of savings and sweat. I can show you pictures of our remodel... it was intense. It sounds like you've been in, so you know we aren't the flashiest place out there.

We spent our money on a free library of wellness books over a flat screen for our lobby. We're running a special called The Ounce That Counts where we donate an ounce to the winner and all proceeds to their (approved) charity.
We do lots of things. Come in and talk to me about it. I'm the tall guy, Jake.