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| Where else would the pharmacy be? |
The sky was overcast, but a rather pleasant day last week
when I pulled into the parking lot at my favorite cafe and headed for the entrance. Seconds
later, I noticed the well-dressed older woman seated on a bench where she
contentedly puffed smoke directly into my path. Except for the smoking, she
appeared calm and sophisticated. The elegant way she held her cigarette reminded
me of ads in the old days promoting Kools, Newports, Pall Malls, or whatever. She
seemed oblivious to society’s increasing disapproval of nicotine addicts. I
caught a whiff of her second-hand smoke as I walked past her and hastened
inside.
The above smoker reminded me of my recent experience when looking
for over-the-counter cold medication. I don’t often go to “drugstores” as I’m a
military veteran and get my prescriptions from the local VA pharmacy, which is
several miles from my home. I felt weak that day, and my nose was dripping from
a cold, so I decided to go to the nearby Walgreens. Covering my nose with a
tissue, I stepped inside and looked around. Just as I remembered, tobacco
products were directly behind the counter near the entrance, and candy was in
the first aisle. The pharmacy and over-the-counter meds were located at the back
of the store in the furthest aisle.
My consciousness raised since I started using a cane, I
asked a couple of employees why their store's layout made it difficult for customers
suffering from various illnesses and the disabled. They had no explanation, and
I left without buying anything.
Next time I needed something from a drugstore, I tried CVS
and true to its word, CVS does not sell tobacco products. But like Walgreens,
the pharmacy and over-the-counter medications are located as far away from the
entrance as possible. On that occasion, it occurred to me that “drugstores” are
little more than convenience stores - out to make a buck - with the added lure
of a pharmacy tucked away in the back of the store. One can only conjecture that the location of
the pharmacy in these so-called drugstores is a marketing ploy designed to
entice sick or handicapped people to buy things on their way there.
The older woman, smoking contentedly in front of the cafe that
day, can likely rest assured that Walgreens will continue to supply her with
cigarettes. In the future, if she needs medication to treat her lung or throat
cancer, maybe her favorite drugstore will provide wheelchairs to enable its ailing
customers to get to the pharmacy located in the rear.
Wonder if Walgreens has ever glimpsed the irony over the
years in calling itself a drugstore while selling tobacco products up front and
filling prescriptions in the back?
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