On a recent afternoon, I was waiting in line at the pharmacy
to pick up a prescription, standing behind the canvas rope at the placard on
the floor that tells you where to wait to ensure the privacy of other customers
ahead of you. I always want to stand directly on those footprints but I never
do. In front of me at the counter, being helped by a pharmacy technician, were
two Asian men, one in his 30’s and the other maybe a decade older. They wore
colorful dress shirts with khaki shorts and carried messenger bags. In this
small town, which houses the only airport in the area and is one of the last
stops for provisions before Yellowstone National Park, these gentlemen were obviously
tourists.
As the cashier was tallying up their purchases, the younger
man called out “Wait, wait!” as the older guy darted away from the register to
grab two rather large boxes of condoms. Interesting choice while on vacation, I thought to myself. As the male cashier took the
boxes he asked “Two more, huh?”. When he slid them into the partially
translucent white paper bag, I could see it already held three such boxes of
Trojans. The younger man appeared to be the only one of the two who was
speaking English. He listened to his companion briefly and then before the
second box was tucked away, he asked “Are these all one size?” The cashier
turned the box every which way, closely examining the small print on each side
and declared that they were in fact all the same size. That seemed to be
acceptable to the older guy.
Once the purchase was complete, the cashier asked the men if
they were headed to the larger town a few miles away and if they were driving.
They said yes, but they were with a tour group so they had no need for the
coupon for gasoline that came with their receipt.
I watched the entire interaction from my spot at the line
marker, obviously that distance is not quite enough to provide the privacy it
is intending, and I tried to imagine all the possible scenarios for which these
two gentlemen from out of town would need approximately 120 condoms. Are they
hoping to get extremely lucky on this
vacation? Maybe they’re lovers on a rare getaway together? Maybe they don’t
have easy access to prophylactics in their country of origin? Or perhaps they
are leaders of the tour group simply thinking ahead and trying to provide their
fellow group members with protection?
When it was finally my turn to approach the counter for my
medication, I gave the cashier a smile but he was as expressionless as a brick
wall. Then I realized I shouldn’t have been surprised by his stoicism. I would
guess that selling large quantities of condoms to tourists is far from the
strangest task his job requires of him. This got me to thinking about my role
as a veterinary technician. I’ve always been proud of my ability to remain calm
and professional when dealing with emergencies and oddities. I once had a
client casually tell me that she examines her own stools each day. I’ve had
owners confess to me that their ill pet has recently ingested pot or used condoms
or thong underwear, and I’m always able to maintain a straight yet friendly
face while I assure them that we will be able to treat their beloved pet
properly. Years ago in an exam room, I asked a female client why she had
brought her beagle in to be seen and she stated matter of factly “She has a
filthy pussy.” I didn’t even pause before I replied, “Alrighty then, let’s see
what we can do about that.” It was clear to me that these were simply the only
words she had to describe her observations.
Working with the public can be challenging at times. Clients
often expect their current problem to take priority over the other things I’m
dealing with and that’s not always appropriate. I often have to do a lot of
assessing in a short amount of time in order to respond properly. But my work
can be incredibly rewarding. There’s no feeling that compares to helping save a
family’s pet or providing a grieving owner with solace during euthanasia. My
job can be fun, difficult, dirty, heartbreaking and it challenges me physically
and emotionally; usually all in the same day. When I took a brief break from
working in the veterinary field, I realized there is literally nothing else I
would rather do as a job.
I don’t know how that pharmacy clerk feels about his job but I’m guessing there are rewarding parts to
helping provide people with their medications as well as frustrating parts.
I’ve found that to be true of all the jobs I’ve ever had. Those tourists were
fortunate to have someone help them who took the task seriously, even as I
observed in disbelief. I guess this all just proves my personal philosophy that
everyone is good at something, has a purpose, and we’re all in a certain place
at a certain time for a specific reason. What was probably a simple interaction
to all parties involved was incredibly interesting to me and gave me a lot to
think about.
This is why I enjoy writing non-fiction and why I carry a
notebook everywhere I go. There’s always amazing things happening around us,
sometimes funny things or examples of kindness or just something spectacular; a
week later I pulled up to the same grocery store and saw a man getting
arrested for fighting in the parking lot!
It’s a reminder to keep my eyes open all the time, to focus
on the moment I’m in, instead of worrying about what I’m doing next.
