the passionate ailurophile

So I went on Saturday to that fancy French department store, Tar-jhay, for my very first flu shot.  It had to be done, no way was I going to go without and risk getting deathly ill again this season.  I’ve had enough fun stuph ruined by the flu, thank you very much!

It wasn’t crowded at all, the only people in front of me were this guy and his two kids who were getting their shots.  The check-in lady asked if I had insurance.  I said I did, but she’ll laugh when she sees what it is.  I presented my Cigna card, and she did indeed laugh.  I said, “yeah, I know, nobody takes this any more.  We’re switching to Blue Cross/Blue Shield come December.”  Then she said that I could take the flu shot paperwork and submit it to Cigna to see if they would reimburse me for it.  That’s when it was my turn to laugh.  Hell, it was only $29.00 out of pocket anyway, I’ll just pay it and be done with it.  What else could I do anyway?  My doctor will no longer see me because of Cigna, and I don’t want to wait until the Blue Cross kicks in for this.  Even so, the co-pay would be $15 anyway, and I’d have to wait for an appointment.  Well worth it to just get it done now, hopefully now I won’t get sick just in time for the beer festival next weekend.

The nurse that gave me the shot seemed very concerned about any potential allergies to chicken and egg products, I guess they use them to make the vaccine.  I am 100% positive I have no allergies in that department, I’d have died a million times by now if I had.  I’m thinking about how I made chicken pot pie last week…I roasted some chicken legs for it.  The skin came out so nice and crispy, but it was not needed for the pot pie.  So I eated it…yummie!  I loves me some crispy poultry skin!  Checks pulse…nope, iz nawt ded yet!

Then after I got the shot, she told me to stick near the pharmacy area for about five minutes, in case I dropped dead or something.  I stayed in the store, because I still needed to buy a new belt.  I went to the men’s department way at the other end of the store to look for one.  Nope, still nawt ded yet.  I found a belt, took it the the checkout, paid, and then we went to buy groceries at the Shaw’s next door.

The flu shot came with a little “goodie bag” of samples.  A 15-day supply of vitamin C tablets, these I can actually take because they are not Hugh Jass nasty-tasting horse pills.  I can’t swallow pills, I have to chew them.  These aren’t designed to be chewable, but they don’t taste too bad.  So I will probably buy more of that brand.  They also gave me a sample of Theraflu, which I already know won’t work, because they changed the formula so that drug dealers can’t make crystal meth from it.  Seriously…I don’t mind having to ask for an OTC med at the pharmacy counter, as long as it contains the old formula that actually works.   But too many OTC drug makers fear that they will lose sales if people can’t just pluck it off the shelf and buy it.  Why not make like Sudafed, and offer both formulas?

There was also a small bottle of hand sanitizer.  This is not something I buy and use at home, because soap and water is enough, I think.  But I could carry it in my purse, just in case I am forced to have to pee in some skeevy restroom that doesn’t have soap or paper towels, one that is so skeevy that you’re afraid to touch the water faucet handles.  And finally, a small purse-sized package of tissues, and a commercial for the Target Pharmacy.  Mike is already getting his meds there now, anyway.  Way cheaper even than insurance co-pays, and they didn’t give him any shit when he asked for non-child-proof caps.  At CVS, he had to almost get down on his knees and beg for them.

Mike refused to get a flu shot.  He has a very unreasonable fear of needles.  Besides, he can get one for free at work if he wants one.  This is just for employees, though, not for spouses and families.  But the bitch of it all is that I usually catch this crap from him, as I don’t go out as much as I used to during the week.  I seldom use public transit any more, and have less exposure to other people than he does.  Well, maybe now that I got the shot, I won’t catch anything that he brings home.  We shall see.