— And there is a new Q to answer, thank you Yelp, and the trivia can be found under Where Did You See It. Quaaludes not incorporated, though, despite the post that comes next —
A local drug store has been thorough all along in conveying its mask message, and riding on its coattails vaccine status, for both sick and well people who are dashing through its door. This post gets into, in a meandering way, the nitty gritty of what they hope you read eye-high as you enter.
As a tangent, this reminds one of that Mr. Jimmy who shared a cherry soda — forget social distancing or too many napkins or tissues — with singer Mick Jagger, for as a sign says, just a quarter or so, in a nearby land that’s actually just across the river, back in beginnings of the Stones, to inspire the song You Can’t Always Get What You Want. So for music as I muse, you just might end up here, as always seems to be the case.
But that local signage on a double door uses several sentences — and is that about how much Hemingway is said to have written in a day? — to describe exactly what they offer, and spell out what they don’t as far as the forms of testing, immediate need or longer term, and to be used there or at home through kits (a new form of takeout?) plus vaccinations of varying types. A health care provider appointment is recommended, so they’ll have you call your cable company … sorry, Freudian slip. They’ve also been one of only a few most consistently staunch and as unflinching as an eye exam in their stated policy, when it came to mask requirements, including being mandatory when few others were. On the front lines, like in a mosh pit, they could see the damage of bad decision-making. Than add the flu shot, also offered even if its optional, to the mix that is bantied about like a billboard.
Still, though getting more and more busy because of the need, my guy behind the counter is Always Quick With A Joke And Light Up Your Smoke (not really), even these days. I tried one of those new gonzo meds (vaccine?) and asked if a side effect was my growing a green tail. Not that he knows of, he said, but if you do he’s got a hack saw ready and waiting back at the farm. Chuckle. The very next day I persevered, and said I had two more, but as said by another sign, this time his diploma, that was outside his “scope.” Gut-busting laugh.
And how else do you deal with these signage times? I noticed that the label on my “just the good stuff” had the same date it was filled as the date to throw-away-by-if-not-used. That is a window to get it done of 24 hours? I quipped, sounds like a party! Belly-buster, since you know if you read the fine print, these types of things can promote either weight gain or loss.
But these days, there also are myriad ways to post just protect yourselves and others. Liked this one, “mask optional, mask friendly.” That’s warm and fuzzy, just like my new growth. Also mask friendly is a karaoke place called Bleachers in Maplewood — I think that’s where the town boundary lies. They were among the first to offer any singer, a veteran or next to grab the mic, some disinfecting equipment and a bit of kind advice that you don’t necessarily have to follow, even if that’s just a wet wipe, promoted through their sliding neon sign in back of the bar. But please don’t take that as a license to slobber, though I have found that it can create a signature vocal effect.
And local convenience stores have also led the way, being about the first, and days early, to require employees to be masked regardless of things like vaccination status. And at Wisconsin’s own, the rules were always posted and updated in detail — but when things died down with restrictions but protests still ramped up — there suddenly ended up being nary a word displayed on the glass. And there words aplenty to state what’s not a tough theme to grasp. There’s probably a more than a triple R and S here, in ways that ask you to mask-up: Strongly suggested, surreptitiously. Then staunchly and stringently standard. Or recommended, required, remedial … And as far as that new booster vaccine to make it a threesome, what if two outta three ain’t bad.