Wanted to add my two cents (after I finished blustering and swearing...):
 
I'm glad you're writing a letter, Regina.  Aside from the fact that it was
an incredibly rude thing to say from a customer service perspective, it
should have been clear to that idiot that if you were spending money on
medicine for your ferret, you care about it very much.  That makes her
comment all the more outrageous.  A letter explaining what happened is
definitely in order, hopefully at the very least she'll be told not to
make such an insensitive comment again.
 
Major kudos and a big "BRAVO!" to you for being a good ferret ambassador
and politely explaining your feelings as well as clearing up an obvious
misconception (ferrets tunnel under houses and leave piles of dirt??...
um, those would be MOLES!).  As much as I try to keep a level head about
ferret issues, I can't say with 100% certainty that I would have been so
controlled.  At a time when your fuzzy kid is sick and needing medicine,
that for me would be the worst time to have to face a comment like that
and deal with it calmly.  So a big pat on the back for you.  You handled
it admirably and probably dispelled at least some of the misinformation
that person has heard.
 
People who dismiss animals as unimportant completely baffle me.  I
understand that not everybody cherishes sharing their life with pets, but
I've always failed to comprehend why this also gives them the right to
make insensitive comments or belittle someone else's devotion to a pet.
My in-laws have rolled their eyes and shaken their heads when they hear
I've gotten yet another ferret an expensive surgery, saying bluntly, "Why
don't you just put it down?" And I won't deny it really hurts.  On some
level I know they just don't understand having that much affection for a
small, weaselly pet.  Yet they had a cat (recently deceased) on which they
spent a small fortune on various medical treatments in her old age.  So
for some people I think it has more to do with the idea of a ferret as
this "exotic" thing and not really in a class with dogs and cats (which
people are much more understanding of, when owners spend tons of money to
keep them healthy and alive).
 
So many of us work so hard to dispel the myth that ferrets are these
slinky, sneaky, dirty, displaced wild things that only crazy people keep
as pets.  We have made a lot of headway by bringing ferrets to visit at
all kinds of community events, not just pet stores.  There was a time not
so long ago in Massachusetts where this pharmacist's reaction would have
been the rule, not the exception.  Hard work by ferret shelters and ferret
clubs have made a lot of headway in bringing about a greater understanding
of the ferret as a pet and a family member, not a sneaky weasel that
slinks around the house hissing and attacking defenseless babies!!  Of
course there is still work to do, places to visit, people to educate who
do not understand the unimaginable joy that a dancing, dooking ferret can
bring at the end of a really bad day!!  But we "fert people" have made a
real difference in the perception of our pets, and continue to do so every
time we're faced with ignorance, misinformation, or even cruel comments
about these little animals we couldn't live without.
 
Well done, Regina.  Kudos again on keeping your cool!!
 
-Heather W.
 Grateful every day for Dante, Nikita, Dusty, Beanie, Boomer, and Rocky!
[Posted in FML issue 3666]