Hate Mail

I wish you were my more personal pharmacists!

October 24, 2007

Dear Blogging Pharmacists,

I'm having a hard time finding boric acid, which I was able to just
walk in and buy only a few short months ago. It seems to have
disappeared from Chicago drug stores. Dissolving it in some hot water
to soak an infected finger or toe was really the best, most
successful, and most importantly, non-antibiotic, way to relieve some
pain and unbearable swelling. This treatment has worked many times
for me and my family.

So, while curiously investigating the disappearance online I happened
upon your blog. I'd like you to know that I was saddened by the
comments I found. It's clear to me from what I read, that your job is
a strain beyond words at times.

While some come to you needing some sober medical direction, or a
trustworthy source for preparing and handling their medicine, my
guess is that most, including myself on occasion, come to you for
some compassion because we are feeling confused, afraid, or are in
pain. A bunch of crabs we all are, limping and sniffling up to the
counter.

While I realize it takes a different kind of education to dispense
empathy, it is most certainly more in demand than pharmaceuticals for
relieving what truly ails people and for addressing the fears,
financial limitations, and concern for the well-being of our loved
ones, that truly exacerbate the most minor of physical discomforts.

The next time someone comes to you with a less than desirable
disposition, would you be willing to dispense with some professional
distance and see beyond the bitching to the pain and frustration
behind it? I know it's not your job, and, more often than not, it's
what's needed most.