Thanks to each of you for your input. Nammu, it sounds like unnecessary red tape to me, too. And it was quite clear that while one employee wouldn't budge on the policy, the other employee paid absolutely no attention to it.

I wonder if all pharmacies nowadays are inefficient (not just about this, but other stuff, too) or if there are actually some pharmacies that have their ***** together? Is it a corporate thing? I remember back in the day, when most pharmacies were small businesses, the pharmacist knew every customer by name and things were done smoothly. Seems like every time I go to the pharmacy anymore there's some kind of stupid hassle.