Love, drugs, and a former pharmacist

There went my pharmacist, my former pharmacist. I guess love and drugs never mix. Well, maybe they do, but falling in love with the pharmacist was never part of the plan. Falling in love with drugs on the other hand, was always part of the plan. In fact, it was so part of the plan that it had become an obsession. An unhealthy obsession that led to another unhealthy obsession: my former pharmacist.

As I watched her walk back into Walgreens, I couldn’t help but remember the first I saw her. “Hi! How can I help you?” Nothing more beautiful had ever spoken those words to me. “Ummm,” I stuttered, “have you always worked here?” I finally asked. Surely I would have noticed. “Nope, I just started last week” she responded with a smile. I quietly wondered if she used the crest white strips on aisle 7.  I bet even she got an employee discount. “Do you get an employee discount?” I asked, aloud. She smiled yet again at my stupidity. “Yeah I do, it’s great.” As I handed her most recent prescription for the drugs I didn’t really need, I realized I was in love.

It was more than just her smile that I was in love with too. I was also in love with her personality. She also had great hair. The way she greeted me every week or two as I handed her yet another prescription I didn’t need was hauntingly beautiful. I would always watch her walk into the back and gracefully count the little pink pills that had formerly owned my heart. Now they shared it with the newest pharmacist Stephanie.

The pills were never hard to get, and I never felt guilty for lying. I needed them just like I needed food. Plus, it was too hard to stop taking them. A friend recommended them to me last winter semester during finals week. “Dude, they’re the best. You don’t need to worry about slip, nutrition… ANYTHING. They always help me concentrate after a long night of partying. Just go talk to your doctor and tell him you have been having a really hard time concentrating in school... they’ll think you have ADH-something. It worked for me!” Soon after it worked for me too. The rest is history.

However, on that particular day, I realized that the only thing I had going for me was the container of capsules in my pocket. Because as my pharmacist walked away, I realized I had lost the only thing I had ever really loved: my former pharmacist.

-JWK