Moray pharmacy team star in Friends-themed musical tonic
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ELGIN pharmacy staff have released an online antidote amid the pandemic – with their own heart-warming Friends-themed musical sketch.
For weeks the staff of Boots in Elgin's High Street haven't had a chance to draw breath, thrown as they were into being critical key workers during a time of crisis.
Store manager Danny Thomas said the team had handled the intensity of the last few weeks brilliantly but the time had come to lighten the mood.
Inspired by TikTok videos produced by workers in other organisations, the team hit on the idea of a Friends-themed sketch.
Equipping themselves with umbrellas, they took advantage of an empty Elgin High Street to recreate the iconic fountain scene in the American sitcom's opening credits.
Filmed during breaks and after work over two weeks and edited in a weekend, the video has notched up more than 13,000 views on Facebook alone.
Mr Thomas said: "It has been so intensely hectic in the store. Phones have been going non-stop, people have been trying to buy masks and hand sanitiser, we've been unbelievably busy with prescriptions, and people have been looking to us for support.
"We really needed something to lighten the mood. After a while people start to flag in a crisis situation. Fatigue was beginning to set in and doing this video has brought a new energy among the team, shifted the focus.
"We've all had to throw ourselves into different ways of working recently. For a while we couldn't tell what was happening from one day to the next. It's all been a very dizzying time.
"We haven't closed for even one day."
Some Boots staff have been furloughed and some are shielding, but the majority of the team currently working in the store played a role in the making of the video.
Mr Thomas added: "The response has been fantastic. We've all been taken by surprise by the positive reaction, including from head office."
Holly Dunbar sings the lyrics, which were adapted by Craig Fulton to the Friends theme tune.
Benefit cosmetics counter team member Kerry Robertson, who stepped up as a volunteer driver for Boots while on furlough, stars as the driver in the video.
Mr Thomas added: "We have no idea what the new world of retail or pharmacy will look like after this – but I have really seen the best in the team. In a crisis, you really see people's strengths – they have stepped up to do all sorts."
View the video here.
