Is 12 noon considered AM or PM?

Plot Device

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I tried searching for the answer on the web, and I found different web sites with different opinions. I even found a web site called Greenwich Mean Time and all they could offer there was "just say "noon" and "midnight."

But this isn't just an accademic question. I have a problem here ... a REAL problem impacting real life ...




I called the automated telephone line at the local pharmacy this morning to refill some of my mom's prescriptions. (I do it every week, she has about 20 different prescriptions so every week a new batch needs refilling.) And today I didn't place the call until about 11:15 AM. So when I got to the part where the automated thingy said to me: "Please select a pick-up time for your prescription," it also stipulated that nothing would be ready until 11:15 AM tomorrow, so my pick-up time could be no earlier than 11:15 AM tomorrow.

Now I have a habit of just rounding up to the next hour whenever I get that message, so I naturally hit "12:00." And then the automated thingy asked me the NEXT normal typical run-of-the-mill question it always asks: "Is that AM or PM? Press 1 for AM and 2 for PM."

And I was stumped .... is it AM or PM?? So I took a guess and I chose PM.

Now I could certainly clear this up and just CALL the pharmacy and ask them to clarify it, but I have had horrendous problem with that pharmacy staff constantly screwing up my mother's medications.

[I had one situation about two months ago where I called to speak with someone just to confirm that there were 4 prescriptions ready for me to pick-up. The pharmacy tech said "No, only 3." I asked where the 4th one was, she said there was no 4th prescription. I insisted there indeed was a 4th because I had called it in myself. Finally, after all kinds of back and forth she said "Oh, there is a 4th, I just didn't see it because it was on the next screen and I never bothered to flip into the next screen."

[I had another situation just two weeks ago where they called me and said they can't refill the prescription because it was declined by the insuance. I was stunned and insisted this was a mistake. Finally, the pharmacy tech said "Oh wait, you're not Gloria, are you?" I said no, I'm not Gloria and neither is my mother. The pharmacy tech said "Oh, I'm sorry, I dialed the wrong houesehold."]



Anyway ... is noon AM or PM??



.
 
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Pagey's_Girl

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Noon is PM. I only know that thanks to once scheduling a meeting from 11:00 AM - 12:00 AM and getting fifteen notes back asking if it was supposed to be a thirteen-hour meeting.
 

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[I had one situation about two months ago where I called to speak with someone just to confirm that there were 4 prescriptions ready for me to pick-up. The pharmacy tech said "No, only 3." I asked where the 4th one was, she said there was no 4th prescription. I insisted there indeed was a 4th because I had called it in myself. Finally, after all kinds of back and forth she said "Oh, there is a 4th, I just didn't see it because it was on the next screen and I never bothered to flip into the next screen."

[I had another situation just two weeks ago where they called me and said they can't refill the prescription because it was declined by the insuance. I was stunned and insisted this was a mistake. Finally, the pharmacy tech said "Oh wait, you're not Gloria, are you?" I said no, I'm not Gloria and neither is my mother. The pharmacy tech said "Oh, I'm sorry, I dialed the wrong houesehold."]
Maybe change pharmacies?

noon is PM. :)
 

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Neither, if you believe many styleguides, including Associated Press.

Noon is noon. In European time, it is written as 12.00. Midnight is midnight. It is written as 00.00 (not 24.00, as some have misttakenly written it).

The language is common enough where people will recognize midnight and noon, versus an AM or PM designation. Ultimately, your editor/publisher will tell you. ;)
 

sassandgroove

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But she wasn't asking a writing question Jason. she needed to know for an automated system that asked for AM or PM. And one minute after noon is PM so noon is PM.
 

CaroGirl

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Neither, if you believe many styleguides, including Associated Press.

Noon is noon. In European time, it is written as 12.00. Midnight is midnight. It is written as 00.00 (not 24.00, as some have misttakenly written it).

The language is common enough where people will recognize midnight and noon, versus an AM or PM designation. Ultimately, your editor/publisher will tell you. ;)
Yes. The use of the 24-hour clock eliminates this kind of confusion. However lots of people, particularly non-Europeans, are confounded by the 24-hour clock for some reason I haven't yet figured out.
 

Plot Device

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Maybe change pharmacies?

noon is PM. :)


I would except my mother will soon (next month, Hooray!) be going into an assisted living facility about 15 miles away in another town. So that right there will cause a change in pharmacies. I wanted to try and keep it all as even as possible. So I've been putting up with their silliness just to avoid the possibility of funky paperwork glitches happening in such a shuffle.
 

Pagey's_Girl

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Yes. The use of the 24-hour clock eliminates this kind of confusion. However lots of people, particularly non-Europeans, are confounded by the 24-hour clock for some reason I haven't yet figured out.

I think it's because it involves all that mathy kind of stuff. You know, numbers and all...

*Disclaimer - Pagey's Girl has been certified as being unable to count above the number ten without removing her shoes.*
 

sassandgroove

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PD. That's reasonable. My pharmacy is fine but my insurance is stupid. they wouldn't refill my Birth Control because it hadn't been 30 days, but it only has 28 days of pills and who would wait until the last minute anyway? Another time they wouldn't fill my pain med saying I needed prior approval from the doc. Um, he wrote the persciption, isn't that prior approval? DUH. HAd to pay out of pocket. *shakes head*
 
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Plot Device

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Neither, if you believe many styleguides, including Associated Press.

Noon is noon. In European time, it is written as 12.00. Midnight is midnight. It is written as 00.00 (not 24.00, as some have misttakenly written it).

The language is common enough where people will recognize midnight and noon, versus an AM or PM designation. Ultimately, your editor/publisher will tell you. ;)

But she wasn't asking a writing question Jason. she needed to know for an automated system that asked for AM or PM. And one minute after noon is PM so noon is PM.


It'd be nice if the pharmacy's computerized telephone thing was programmed to ask the additional question of "midnight or noon"? during those rare times when someone like me is stupid enough to key in the numbers "1200" as the desired pick-up time.
 

James81

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What will really bake your noodle is whether or not a thing such as "12" exists in the fashion of "AM" or "PM."

To the Glargons in galaxy Meebox, a "noon" or "midnight" might mean "red" or "hamburger."
 

Clair Dickson

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See, now you now to put in 12:01pm instead of trying to get the system to understand noon. =)

I love automated systems... they provide humor for the rest of my day.
 

Plot Device

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PD. That's reasonable. My pharmacy is fine but my insurance is stupid. they wouldn't refill my Birth Control because it hadn't been 30 days, but it only has 28 days of pills and who would wait until the last minute anyway? Another time they wouldn't fill my pain med saying I needed prior approval from the doc. Um, he wrote the persciption, isn't that prior approval? DUH. HAd to pay out of pocket. *shakes head*


Tomorrow my mom and I have an appointment at the assisted living facility with one of the directors there who will show us her new apartment answerng all kinds of questions for us. One of my questions is going to be: "What local pharmacy do you use so I can immediately transfer her prescriptions there?"

And I've also been VERY sly about her medications. (Shhhh! Don't tell anyone in the insurance industry what I am about to tell you!!!!!)

My mom's presciptions are all 30-day supplies. And I figured out that the automated system is willing to allow a new refill to get processed 7 days before the full 30 days has elapsed. So last summer I started deliberately calling in everything 7 days early. I now have well over 30 days worth of all her medications stockpiled. So in the event of a MAJOR screwup, there is a cushion of an extra 2 weeks (some meds 4 weeks) worth of extra pills for all her prescriptions. Even with the drugs called "control" drugs (the ones that are classified as narcotics) I was able to sneak extra pills through the sytem every month to get a good stockpile going.

I am anticipating a screwup or two to happen when she transfers pharmacies. So hopefully this covert stockpile will be the saving grace of that more-than-likely snafu that I am so certain will happen next month when she moves into that facility. Things are already going to vbe traumatic eough for her when she moves. She does NOT need all that stress to be compounded by a wholesale screwup/disruption in her supply of medications.
 
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Pagey's_Girl

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Good thinking with the meds. And I'm sure she'll love her new place. :)

ETA - one of my relatives lived the last ten years of her life at an assisted-living home. She thought she'd hate it, but, to her surprise, ended up really enjoying it. She was able to get out and around more than she did when she lived in the trailer because instead of living at the end of a dirt road, she lived where there were all kinds of places to go nearby and on the grounds, as well as buses for the residents three times a day in and out of town. So it worked out wonderfully.
 
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benbradley

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The new day starts at midnight. That's 12:00 AM. It stays AM for the first twelve hours of the day, then at 12:00 Noon it becomes PM, and stays PM for the rest of the day, through a moment before midnight, 12:59:59PM and 0.9999999.... seconds. :)

I was going to suggest you enter 12:01 PM so you could avoid the possible problem of a programmer that thinks noon is 12:00AM.
Neither, if you believe many styleguides, including Associated Press.

Noon is noon. In European time, it is written as 12.00. Midnight is midnight. It is written as 00.00 (not 24.00, as some have misttakenly written it).

The language is common enough where people will recognize midnight and noon, versus an AM or PM designation. Ultimately, your editor/publisher will tell you. ;)
I'd like to hear you explain that to the automated system when it says "Press 1 for AM, or 2 for PM." :)
But she wasn't asking a writing question Jason. she needed to know for an automated system that asked for AM or PM. And one minute after noon is PM so noon is PM.
But, but, but ... one minute BEFORE noon is AM, so how does that make noon PM? :D
I think it's because it involves all that mathy kind of stuff. You know, numbers and all...

*Disclaimer - Pagey's Girl has been certified as being unable to count above the number ten without removing her shoes.*
Ain't touchin' that...