Question for Americans..........

[red indian]

What exactly IS a drug store? I have long been intruiged by these places having seen them in countless movies, they seem to be an odd combination of a bar, a chemist and somewhere to buy something to unblock your toilet!!! we have no equivalent over here, i look forward to reading your definitions.

 

[qjakal]

They're ...

a pharmacy surrounded by 20 aisles of crappy hair products, beach supplies that self destruct after being used once, bad greeting cards, cheap magazines and photo developing that takes a loooong time. At least around NYCity. Q

 

[red indian]

Hi Q.....

Hows your belly for spots mate??

 

[Daumantas]

red -

What you see in the movies is mostly the old-fashioned kind of "drug store." They were basically what you'd call a chemist, but with a little bar area where you could sit to buy ice cream and soft drinks mixed right there (the "soda fountain"), plus some odd snacks.

The modern version has dispensed with the soda fountain - too expensive, and probably too many people liked it - and now they stick about a dozen aisles of hair goop, Butterfinger bars, and really poor and sad toys for kids who are bad IN FRONT of the over-the-counter medicine, which is all the Excedrin for when you have a headache, and the Mylanta for when you can't shit and the Imodium for when you can't stop shitting, etc., which is in turn IN FRONT OF the actual pharmacy (chemist). The idea being that if you walk past all that crap to get to the drugs you crave (and don't we all), you'll buy some hair goop or mustache remover or other garbage on the way in or out.

Hope this helps
D

 

[WallStreet]

Let's not forget that the average drug store also sells condoms and EZ Widers.

 

[Dave2112]

Only in America do they make sick people walk to the back of the store for thier medicine, while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front counter....

 

[JoBelle]

I never htought of a drug store as a slice of Americana, but I suppose it is! Learn something new everyday! 😉

So you walk into this little building that houses what most of the Third World would consider miracles and you're blasted by a cold front. Have you ever walked into the local Rite Aid and not been hit with cold air? Or how about that lovely antisepic smell...a mix of aspirin and plastic and rubbing alcohol. LOVELY I say. 😛

You see Red, aisle by aisle you see the ugly needed items of life displayed sie by side.

A 12 year old stuffed animal puppy next to a 3 dollar lawn chair. A nicotine patch and a cigar in the same LOCKED case. Beer and icecream in a cooler framed by dental floss and contact lens cleaner! It's a conucopia of all the things you lose before you completely use up. There cosmetics is horrendous. Who buys lipstick at the drugstores besides my great aunt who is 93 years old??? SCARY! Then again, she's probably married to the fellow who buys the striped tubes socks from 1983 on aisle 4 next to the bug spray.

Once you get past all of this..LITERALLY, as the pharmacist is ALWAYS wihtout fail in the back of the store, you may pry open the cltuched hand holding your prescription and hand it to the peron behind the counter who look like they need a nap. Comb-over guys and girls with bleached or permed hair seem to be the norm for pharmacies.

So there you stand admiring the selection of canes, crutches and wheelchairs by the infamous water fountain. (All drug stores seem to have these.) Your arms are growing heavy with your selections that sucked you in on the way to the back of the store. You're wistfully thinking, "If only it were like Mr Gower's place. I could good that good little George Bailey to make me a soda while I wait." But instead, your hour long revery is shaken by the cold voice that almost happily states, "We're out of this medication. You can try again tomorrow." ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

So you plop down your cherry scented suntan lotion with a SPF of 916. You pile on top of that your cowboy bandana, and the air fresheners shaped like trees and feet. DAMN THEM! Now you have to buy this somewhere else. Hey, You can't live without it, now can you??? But you have to have standards...they may be low....but you will not shop here again! EVER...until it's 2 am and the other stores are all closed. *shrug*

Joby

 

[Dave2112]

And let's not forget the magazine rack; with Shape, Self, Cosmo, Cosmo Girl, Sweet Teen, Diet, Oprah's Mag, Oprah's World, Oprah's Universe, Glamour, Vogue, Self-Absorption, Looks are Everything, Men Suck Monthly...

...and not one friggin' Penthouse.

 

[shark]

A nearby drug store has started selling foods like you would find in a grocery.However,they also stopped selling many types of braces and removable splints.

Half of our drug stores don't know what they're supposed to be,which
is a source of prescription and over the counter medications. Sometimes you have to search to find these.

 

[CitY of MicA]

Hmmm... I seem to be the only soul here who doesn't have a problem with drug stores, persay. I buy some of the aforementioned stuff such as hair goop and condoms there, as well as toiletries, film, batteries, videotapes, and the occasional notepad. Worth noting is the fact that many of these stores now have the condoms located on the shelves as opposed to behind the counter. Big deal you say? Well, it surely would be a big deal to not have to ask the clerk for them when you're younger.

 

[Strelnikov]

I do business with a Mom-n-Pop drug store. Yah, they've got the hair goop and stuffed varmints, and there's stuff on the back shelves that they bought with the shop in 1980. But they know me and my family, their prices are no worse than the chain stores, they have a real soda fountain, and the high schoolers working the counter are cheerful and competent. I think Joby would like the place.

Strelnikov

 

[JoBelle]

I think Joby would like the place.

Strelnikov

Sounds right, Strel. I'm a big fan of Ma & Pa places. I like independent books stores and locally owned hardware stores too~! 🙂

Joby

 

[red indian]

well thanks for that folks.......

A very comprehensive set of replies indeed! any similar Brit queries i can help you with?

 

[qjakal]

British Pharmacy?

So...where DO you go when you just have to have prescriptions filled, red? Q

 

[red indian]

well..........

We go to a chemist on the high street or quiet often the doctors surgery (as mine does) has a chemist concession within the same building which takes a lot of the aggravation out of it, which if you are a regular drug user like me is very handy.

 

[qjakal]

Sounds good...

I typically drop mine off, because it's ALWAYS an "hour" wait...no matter the time of day or seriousness of the problem. Sigh... Q

 

[red indian]

an hour?? an hour????

Try 48 hours or longer over here for a repeat prescription!!!! and normally it is NOT ready, and we have to go through the usual pantomime of them trying to prove to me that I did NOT bring in the prescription on monday and that it is now thursday and they STILL do not have it ready!!!

 

[qjakal]

Socialized Medicine...

Oh yeah...that makes me want to go to a national health plan....yuk...that's almost abusive. If I had a sick child that would drive me crazy. Guess there's probably a decent black market to fill the need? Q

 

[red indian]

well its not all bad............

It beats lying in the road next to an ambulance while some jackass with a clip board askes if you have any insurance!!! also its worth knowing that i have over the last few years had surgery which had I "gone private" would have cost around £20,000 and on top of that are all the regular consultations with specialists going back 30 years regarding my unfortunately incurable condition and god knows what that bill would have come to, but the fact is I have not paid a red cent for any of it. Before my last bout of surgery I offered the surgeon the chance to earn some big bucks by doing the work privately but he said "dont waste your money, your treatment will be no different if you go private" would that ever happen in the USA???

 

[qjakal]

Hmmm...

Nope...but we would have cured it...😉 Q

 

[shark]

There is nothing I know of that says a person must use their medical insurance for services.Unless there is a procedure that insurance will not cover,or a claim that you would rather your insurance carrier not know about,"going private" would be a financial waste.

I also know from experience that you are not in any mood to discuss insurance coverage when you are in a bad way.This is one of the shortcomings of our system,and I have openly argued with health care providers about this practice.

 

[red indian]

Unfortunately...........

I dont have medical insurance, but the point i was making was that the guy was not prepared to take my money and assured me that my treatment would be just as good under our nation health scheme, which I thought was impressive and underlines the good side of our national health service which i gather gets a had press your side of the pool.

 

[qjakal]

Bad...

Actually I'd say it gets mixed reviews...the question pops up over here every 4 years...amazingly enough, usually right around election time! I'd like to see some sort of basic health plan in place here, but the abuse of the current one makes me think any change might be even worse! Q

 

[shark]

I wouldn't mind seeing gov't insurance for those without insurance otherwise,like those between jobs or with jobs where medical insurance is not offered.There is no way I would trust this bunch we have in our gov't to run a national insurance program,especially if it's mandatory and a monopoly.

 

[jason19tk]

Re: well its not all bad............

Before my last bout of surgery I offered the surgeon the chance to earn some big bucks by doing the work privately but he said "dont waste your money, your treatment will be no different if you go private"

I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't hesitate to go to that surgeon again. Sounds like he was more interested in helping people than making money. 🙂