This week found me standing line at the pharmacy – the pharmacy that is attached to my regular grocery store. After standing at an appropriately socially distanced spot in line, which by the way, makes the long pharmacy line way longer, my coveted turn arrived. And of course, my prescription was held up by the insurance company. The pharmacist was on hold with good ole Blue Cross/Blue Shield to see if she could find the key to unlocking the coverage for this drug. She was on hold, so I was on hold. As I moved out of line and took my place along the wall, a man approached me and asked, “When it is your turn, could you please ask the pharmacist where I can find the Vaseline?” The shopper was around my age, wearing a mask displaying a flag that I did not recognize. He said “My cousin and I have been walking around and around looking for Vaseline.” I told him that I would probably not be talking to the pharmacist (still on hold with the insurance company) for a while, but I would be happy to help him look. I suggested we start in lotions. No luck. Then I saw a shopper with Neosporin in his cart. I said to my buddy, “Hey, let’s ask that guy where he found the Neosporin.” My friend said, “That is my cousin,” who was another man about the same age, wandering the pharmacy aisles. We determined the cousin had gotten the Neosporin in the first aid aisle, so we headed there because, after all, the pharmacist was still on hold. No Vaseline. I actually found an employee nearby, and she joined in on the search. We did not find Vaseline. And the pharmacist was still on hold.
In case you haven’t noticed, the cupboards are sometimes bare at the grocery store, and randomly so. One week you cannot find Splenda, the next week you cannot find Vaseline.
But this week’s delight was helping someone out in the time of COVID – even though we had no success. He thanked me profusely, which I appreciated. It was actually nice to have something to do while my pharmacist remained on hold.
Finally, I got to the check-out lane – I had picked up some groceries while the pharmacist waited. Right behind me was the guy and his cousin with a cart full of groceries, including the Neosporin. Suddenly, a new check-out lane opened up, and the cousin scooted over. My buddy said, “You know, you should have let that lady go in front of us.” To which the cousin shrugged his shoulders, and proceeded to unload the groceries onto the conveyer belt. I said, “Yes, you should have let me go ahead of you.” Not in a mean way, just stating the obvious. To which my buddy shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands in a “what are you gonna do?” kind of way. Cousins will be cousins. I actually didn’t mind that much because I knew I had all the time in the world waiting for Blue Cross to answer the pharmacist’s call.
But then, there was the lady ahead of me in line. The one who was pushing her little dog in a little pink stroller (I kid you not), really slowing things down. She tried this card, then that card. Nothing worked. She still owed $42. Now if she owed $2 or $12 dollars, maybe $20, I would have helped her out. But I just couldn’t do the full $42, so she and her little dog had to stroll out of the store with no groceries. Which means I had to wait for the cashier to do something with all that food. I looked over at my buddy, and was somewhat satisfied to see that the cousin could not get his card to work. He didn’t know the PIN. His cashier could not figure it how to deal with it. So, my cashier had to figure it out. But not before checking me out first! Take that cousin!
Well, we all got checked out about the same time. The bad news is there was no Vaseline, and the lady with the dog had to leave without food. Oh, and after all that check-out fiasco, I returned to the pharmacy. You guessed it – still on hold.
The joy in the time of COVID for this week: helping someone find the treasure in the grocery aisle. Or at least try.