And This Is Effective How?

Do you know what happens to people who eat nothing but unhealthy food, don't exercise, and don't get enough sleep? I'll tell you: they get every stupid bug that comes along. Seven days in the house with three unhealthy adults and I'm fighting a cold that I refuse-- REFUSE!-- to get. This is my free week, possibly the last truly free week that I'll have until after the Bar Exam, and I want to spend it doing things that are fun, not blowing my nose and feeling too crappy to get up off the sofa.

So, I headed to Tarjhay with War with the intention of buying some cold medicine to stomp on the symptoms before they have a chance to get bad, as well as picking up some nice, soft Kleenex, orange juice and chicken noodle soup to supplement the eighty gallons of hot tea and honey I already had at home. I suscribe to the carpet bombing theory of cold management. All was well until we got to the cold remedy aisle. I had a coupon for a specific kind and was mystified by the fact that I couldn't seem to find this brand-- a major brand, not something obscure-- anywhere among the numerous boxes in the well-stocked aisle. Then I noticed the rack of small plastic cards with the names and pictures of some cold remedies and a sign saying to take the tag to the Pharmacy to obtain those products.

One problem: it's New Year's Day and the Pharmacy was closed.

For a wild moment, I thought I might just take the card to the Service Desk and ask them to get the medicine for me, just like I can get my photos even when the Photo Center is closed. After all, the medication is an over-the-counter product that does not require a license or anything to dispense. Then I noticed the second sign: "THESE PRODUCTS ARE NOT AVAILABLE WHEN PHARMACY IS CLOSED". Great.

Now, I understand that many places have moved products containing pseudoephedrine to locked cases and so on to prevent them from being used in the production of methanphetamines. I do not agree with this. The whole point of over the counter medication is that you don't have to get it from a pharmacist. You can walk right into the store, pick it up, and buy it.

Oh, the safety of the public is at stake!

Well, you don't have to get someone to unlock the ammonia or the bags of fertilzer at the garden center.

So there I am, sick and pissed off. I suppose I should have been happy to do my part to "protect society", but all I want is to get relief for my stuffed head and streaming nose. We went next door to the Horribly Overpriced Chain Store to see if I could get the drugs there or else maybe there was a pharmacist on duty there that could give me the over-the-counter drugs that I shouldn't have to have dispensed by a pharmacist. Lo and behold, the drugs were right there on the shelf.

So let's review:

Sick person unable to get medication, which is legally available to her, but which has been made unavailable not by state or federal regulators or legislators, but rather by someone at a mass merchandiser's corporate offices.

Those interested in obtaining the medication not for its intended purpose can do so by walking less than 500 feet to the next store.

Those interested in other, more nefarious activities can obtain the materials to do so from the first retailer.

Yes, now I feel safer.