This morning I dressed up a wee bit... well... at least it's dressed up for someone living the country life, who is retired and has no need to dress up for a daily office job, and going to swanky parties is no longer something we choose to do since they usually entail hanging around big egos of the corporate world...also a thing of the past, and out here in the country there is no one who needs impressing, so I usually look somewhat ratty unless I am high tailing into town.
I dropped off a few home grown tomatoes to some friends, but just a few since my husband is hoarding the rest of his German Johnsons from the garden, and I also took them some homegrown potatoes that were gifted to us by a neighbor. Thirty pounds of potatoes is enough to feed a small army, definitely too many potatoes for just the two of us, so I threw together a beef stew in the crock pot and hauled a bag of a couple dozen to our friends along with the tomatoes.
Once they were delivered into loving, welcome hands, I stopped at the grocery store for more carrots since I was short for the beef stew requirements, and selected some dinner rolls and a Razzleberry pie which we LOVE from the frozen dessert section. Then it was off to CVS pharmacy for a prescription renewal and my flu shot which I had been meaning to get for a month. With our insurance, the shot was free. I can recall a few years back when my flu shot costs $35.00, so free sounded good to me.
I filled out the paperwork for the shot, because they needed to show a checkmark in the box that asked, "are you pregnant?". Wow! I'm 62, but still they needed to know for certain. I checked the 'no' box and sat down and struck up a chat with the man beside me.
He looked quite a bit older than me, had a cane, clean clothes, and atop his head was a hat... an American Veteran's hat. We talked about Thanksgiving, the cold windy weather, where he lived... you know... chit chatty stuff, the kind of information that is safe to share with anyone you have just seated yourself next to in a CVS Pharmacy waiting area.
The cashier/pharmacy tech girl called his name after a five or ten minute wait and said that his prescriptions were ready and I heard him rattle off his date of birth when she asked... the year was 1935, which makes him 81 years old. Then the girl told him the total amount of his prescriptions....it was $37.00 and some odd pennies, and with that information his shoulders slumped and he looked downward asking how much it would be for just one of them.... "well", she said, "the one is not covered by your insurance because it is an over the counter drug, and the other is $22.00". The man said he would not get his check in the mail until December 2nd, and the girl obviously didn't know what to say to him.
I couldn't bear to watch or listen to this hypocrisy created by pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies and our government. They would just as soon watch people die on the steps of the U.S. Senate building than fix this ugly situation that THEY themselves have created for their own financial gain. They pocket BILLIONS of dollars each year and yet that is not enough... it will NEVER be ENOUGH for them.
So, call me a bleeding heart liberal if you will. OF THAT I am proud!
My hat I have had a few years and it was $48.00
The coat is new and over $100.00
The scarf is new and probably $30.00 (sim here)
The jeans were $100.00 on sale a few months ago
Brighton bracelets total around $100.00
The boots are from a few years ago.
If I couldn't help this man out then who am I??
I stepped up to the counter, whipped out my debit card with tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat and stated that "I am paying for his prescriptions" because I am sick of big Pharma and the insurance industry and the government for creating this problem for people who simply don't have the financial means to pay for needed medications.
The man looked almost ashamed to look up, so I hugged him and told him 'Merry Christmas' and he told me to have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope that by making this simple gesture of kindness that once he gets his check in December that it will put him ahead of the game so that he will indeed have the money he needs for his next prescription.
I didn't need the money. Most of what I buy is for enjoyment rather than need, and the man is a U.S Veteran, someone who truly has a place in my heart.
The pharmacist came out and gave me my flu shot, thanked me for doing what I did for the man, wished me a Happy Thanksgiving and we all went on to have a wonderful day.
My action did not tilt the world on it's axis.... but it did brighten someone's day..
Pay it forward, people..... don't spend it all on yourself.....Pay it forward.
