When I went on insulin, I switched pharmacies, from the giant Rite-Aid that sells cigarettes by the front door to O’Hearn’s Pharmacy on Main Street, a small and funky place presided over by Bridget Cowan, nee O’hearn. O’hearn’s is different from Rite-Aid as my farm is from China., it is a family-owned business that has been operating for generations. They don’t sell cigarettes, dog food, toys or toilet paper. Bridget mans her fort at the end of the store and handles the phone. She comes by when customers come in to talk to them, see how they are. She is famous for her careful research into medications and different ways of buying them and saving money.
The pharmacy closes at 6, but Bridget hands out her home number and tells customers to call her in an emergency. “You might have to stop by the house and pick me up, but I’ll come in,” she says and there are all kinds of stories around town of her doing just that.
One political idea I am happy to talk about is buying local. In my town it is an article of faith. We support the Battenkill Bookstore, the Round House Cafe, our local dinner, Momma’s Restaurant. When I told my friends I was going on insulin, every one of them urged me to go and talk to Bridget and so I did, and learned more about diabetes in 15 minutes that I had learned in months of talking to doctors and listening to hysterics online. I am adjusting to lots of new things, and I appreciated the help. You probably aren’t happy there’s a pharmacist in your life, Bridget told me today, and I disagreed with her.
At Rite-Aide you have to sign a statement saying you didn’t ask for counseling, at Bridget’s you just look up and ask.
This is exactly the time when I want a pharmacist in my life, I told Bridget, I appreciate her already. Diabetes is complex – needles, tablets, pills, lancets, charts and nutritional issues, Bridget cuts to the chase, she takes time to talk to me and listen. Call me anytime, she said. I told her I would rather not have diabetes, but I saw it as an opportunity to get healthy and stay that way. There are a lot worse things I might have heard from the doctors. I told her I had to take her photo now, she was a part of my life, and I share much of my life on the blog. Join the colorful cast, I said, you, dogs and donkeys, and she laughed and said, sure.
On the way out the door, three other customers stopped me and told me how pig-headed their husbands were about their diabetes, what could they do? I wish I could help, I said, it was probably like talking to a tree. Exactly, one said. I can be pretty pig-headed too, and soon we were all laughing with Bridget at some other story somebody was relating.
Buying local is an timely ideology in the Corporate Nation. I am lucky to have a pharmacist who is still a pharmacist, and not a cog in a convenience store that happens to sell pills. She already knows me better than anyone ever did at Rite-Aid, and she wouldn’t dream of selling cigarettes at a pharmacy. I am glad she is there, she has already made things easier and clearer for me. This is the kind of connection and individuality that corporations kill – it is the essence of community and connection. I”m not going to a pharmacy, I’m going to see Bridget. I don’t know what Bridget’s payment policies are, I have good insurance but I met a woman last week who told me when her husband was dying of cancer and she was penniless, Bridget let her run a tab and even though it took her years to pay the bill off, Bridget never said a word.
I wouldn’t try that at Rite-Aid. There, you can buy cigarettes and pills for lung cancer, but you will have to pay for both.