Giving Shots

 

   It finally happened. All the paperwork, training, equipment purchases and back and forth with various people has been completed. We have vaccine in stock. We waited through the "pause". We are finally able to give Covid vaccine to people.

   I had wanted to do this for a long time. We did help people as much as we could during the pandemic. We did curbside service and mailed things out. We wore our masks and limited out trips. We got take out from local places now and again. I wanted to do more. I wanted to vaccinate. Several customers had been asking us over and over again when we would get vaccine.

   Now we have it.

   We had a lot less business than we had expected the last two weeks. I think people have received other vaccines or have been scared off by the recent news. Still, a few people is better than no people.

   I had forgotten how much I like doing vaccine clinics. I try my best to make the experience a pleasant one or at least not a bad one. People who get the Covid vaccine need to sit in our waiting area for 15 minutes in case of a severe reaction. We have bottled water on hand that I offer those who are waiting. People appreciate the attempt at hospitality. The other thing I do is converse with those who seem to want to talk.

   This will probably surprise most of the people who know me. I'm pretty shy and very reserved. It's not easy for me to converse with a strangers. Something happens when I put on my white pharmacist coat. Suddenly I'm able to converse with all kinds of people.

   I get to meet very interesting people. I met a couple who build waterslides for a living. They travel all around the country and Canada doing this. I vaccinated a young woman who studied Spanish in college. She did a study abroad in Spain. She like it so much in Europe that she went back to teach in Spain and now lives in the Netherlands.(She has a charming Dutch accent.) I met a man from New Zealand who moved here 18 years. His company builds equipment for the dairy industry. Apparently dairy is a big industry in New Zealand. A woman brought her father in to be vaccinated. He was recovering from hip surgery. When his wife died five years ago, he sold his house and moved in with his daughter. It's going well. He told me he is grateful that his children are willing to spend time with him, given that his job involved traveling all over the world and was away so much during their childhood.

   I've talked to people about their children and grandchildren. I've talked to a young man who will be graduating from high school this year. He wanted to make sure that I didn't vaccinate him in his pitching arm. (He's a baseball player.) I've seen a vast variety of interesting tattoos.

  When it's time for those waiting to leave, I try to remember to thank them for stopping by. To those I've conversed with I also say that it was nice to meet them. 

   This is the part of working in a small town that I have missed. It's good to be back.