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I called the neighborhood pharmacy yesterday to refill a prescription.
"Would you like delivery or pickup?"
"I'll pick it up."
"You are aware that the store is closing for good at 7:30 tonight, right? So you need to be sure to be here by 7:30."
"Wait, what? Closing as in closing? Going out of business?"
"Yes, that's right. Make sure you get here by 7:30."
We started using this pharmacy when we moved to Queens as newlyweds 24 years ago. I don't remember why we picked this one: it looks like a bit of a hole in the wall, but ... I could walk in, and before I had a chance to give my name, somebody behind the counter would grab my prescription and my wife's (we have different last names) and bring them to the counter. Ira, the chief pharmacist, knew what else we were taking and warned of drug interactions. If we were out of something and the prescription was expired, he would call our doctors (whom he also knew) to get the refill authorized; if they were closed for the day, he would "front" us a few days' worth of medication. There were delivery boys with bicycles who would drop a filled prescription in your mailbox and put the charge on your tab, which you would pay the next time you happened to be in the store. The store was a few blocks from our doctors' offices, and when I got a new prescription, there was a good chance it would be ready for pickup by the time I walked there. If not, I would go to the grocery store fifty feet away and come back a few minutes later to pick up the prescription, then walk a few more blocks home. This pharmacy is one of the things that make this neighborhood feel like a small town. And as of this morning, it's gone.
"Would you like delivery or pickup?"
"I'll pick it up."
"You are aware that the store is closing for good at 7:30 tonight, right? So you need to be sure to be here by 7:30."
"Wait, what? Closing as in closing? Going out of business?"
"Yes, that's right. Make sure you get here by 7:30."
We started using this pharmacy when we moved to Queens as newlyweds 24 years ago. I don't remember why we picked this one: it looks like a bit of a hole in the wall, but ... I could walk in, and before I had a chance to give my name, somebody behind the counter would grab my prescription and my wife's (we have different last names) and bring them to the counter. Ira, the chief pharmacist, knew what else we were taking and warned of drug interactions. If we were out of something and the prescription was expired, he would call our doctors (whom he also knew) to get the refill authorized; if they were closed for the day, he would "front" us a few days' worth of medication. There were delivery boys with bicycles who would drop a filled prescription in your mailbox and put the charge on your tab, which you would pay the next time you happened to be in the store. The store was a few blocks from our doctors' offices, and when I got a new prescription, there was a good chance it would be ready for pickup by the time I walked there. If not, I would go to the grocery store fifty feet away and come back a few minutes later to pick up the prescription, then walk a few more blocks home. This pharmacy is one of the things that make this neighborhood feel like a small town. And as of this morning, it's gone.
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On the bright side, there are at least two other neighborhood pharmacies in walking distance, and we'll look into using them.
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Thank God for Neighborhood Pharmacies! I'm lucky enough to have a good one, although not in (my) walking distance.
Regards, B.
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