The customer

Outer characterization

The unnamed woman who is a customer at the pharmacy where the narrator works is a secondary character in the short story “Pill Pusher” by Carolyn A. Drake.

The woman is described as wearing “Bug-eyed Coach sunglasses” (l. 4) that cover her face “from narrow eyebrow to cheek” (ll. 4-5). Later, the narrator notices that she has a puffy face (l. 93) and wrinkles that make her look older than she actually is (l. 94). The narrator approximates her age, stating that the woman is “(…) thirty something. She’s not much older than me – maybe ten years” (ll. 94-95).

The narrator describes the woman as a “Bloated soccer mom who consumes Lean Cuisines, goes to Pilates classes, and takes placebo-effect dietary supplements because Oprah told her to” (ll. 39-40). However, we later learn that the narrator may be wrong.

Inner characterization

The woman initially seems to be the typical fussy customer. She cuts the line, excusing herself by saying that s...