If you have asthma, you probably carry an inhaler with you at all times.

In today’s story, one man lost his inhaler and didn’t think he could wait until the next day to get a new one.

That meant he couldn’t go to the pharmacy where his prescription was on file and had to see a doctor to get a new prescription.

This turned into a much longer drama than it should’ve, but he found a way to make sure the money for his bill went to a good cause.

Let’s see how it all works out.

Yeah, sure. Here’s the money.

This happened to me in about 2006, so I was 12 years younger and we’ll leave it at that.

It was a Sunday evening and I had been out clubbing the night before and lost my jacket.

It had my only asthma inhaler in the pocket and I wasn’t able to get a replacement until the next day when I could go to the pharmacy and get a repeat.

He couldn’t really wait until the next day.

For those who are not familiar with the system, normally you would go to a pharmacy and pay for your meds and then be allowed to get the same meds the next month and one more month after before needing to see the doctor who would then prescribe either the same dosage or different depending on how it has been working for you.

Either way, I only needed to wait for one day but I was starting to feel very short of breath.

I decided that it would be best to bite the bullet and drive to the after-hours clinic that had a pharmacy open until late.

(Turns out that was 10pm, but I didn’t know this at the time and it was before I had a smart phone).

He tried to explain the situation.

I arrived at the pharmacy and asked if I could transfer a repeat from one pharmacy to another and, apparently, that’s a no go.

Sort of like getting a warranty replacement from a different store you purchased goods from.

Anyway, I was at the after-hours clinic and would need to see a Dr but the after-hours is notorious for high prices, at least twice what you would pay at a regular clinic.

I went to the reception desk and told them the story. I said that all I needed was the inhaler.

I could get one tomorrow (literally 11 hours away until the other pharmacy opened) and that I was short on breath (and unbeknownst to me, short on time.)

He wasn’t sure why he had to wait so long.

Well, they kept me waiting for an hour.

Normally, I would be fine with that because I understand that some people have emergency needs, but it seemed like a slow night.

Still. I’m not a Dr and I don’t know what they were doing.

But normally a person with breathing troubles is seen right away.

Now there’s another problem.

Anyway, I see the Dr who does some pretty normal stuff and asks regular questions and then writes up a prescription.

I’m fine with that, head to the pharmacy and find that it’s shut.

What a let down.

The receptionist was not at all understanding.

I head to reception and update them on the scenario.

The lady doesn’t give a care and says, “Well, you’ve seen the Doctor and have to pay.” when I wasn’t even asking about a refund, I was asking about how I was going to breath.

I figure, ‘forget these people’ and drive to a family members house some 30 minutes away and get an inhaler from them.

(I could have done this to start, but I was trying to be independent and didn’t want to show up unannounced that late.)

He decided to have “fun” paying the bill.

Skip forward to the next week and I’m looking at this bill (keep in mind that it was a dozen years ago and in New Zealand currency) and it was about a hundred bucks.

I decided that I would have some fun if I was going to pay it.

I went to my bank and withdrew the total sum in 5 cent pieces… 2000 little silver coins.

At this point I really wish it was like the cartoons and I had a white bag with a $ sign…. maybe next time.

Time to pay the bill!

I put the coins into a beanie so it doesn’t look like I’ve intentionally tried to screw them and drive to the pharmacy.

I walk in the door and put the hat on the counter and the noise of the coins sounds brilliant.

The receptionist was aghast and asked what it was.

I said it was my collection of 5 cent pieces and that it was probably… roughly… one hundred bucks, and that they might want to count it.

The entire bill payment ended up going to charity.

The receptionist accepted that it was probably the full amount and didn’t bother counting it.

What was the reason she wasn’t going to count out one coin until two thousand coins?

Well, In 2006 the 5 cent pieces went out of circulation in New Zealand currency and, before they did, that clinic was donating every single 5 cent coin to Plunket, which is a charity that looks after the new born babies and children of New Zealand.

That’s really cool how he took an annoying bill and turned it into a way to donate to charity.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This person thinks the receptionist shouldn’t have made him wait so long.

Another person rants about money in Australia.

She could’ve insisted on another form of payment.

This person loved the story.

Here’s the perspective of someone who moved from New Zealand to the United States.

If you have to pay the bill, it might as well be for a good cause!

Good for this guy.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.