A PHARMACY TOO FAR

JOHNNY CALLS THE CHEMIST
SOMERSET WEST . A TOWN ON THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

The world is getting smaller so they say. For humans to travel today is a doddle compared to the slog our forefathers had to endure in covered wagons being pulled by horses or oxen. Imagine how annoying a kid would have been asking every 20 kilometres “when we going to get there?”. The mortality rate on these far flung trips was high and i am sure in part due to frustrated parents losing it with bored kids whining all day. We must remember that the wagons then had no air suspension, separate air conditioning, head rest dvd players, i pod jacks, and cruise control. There were no shell ultra city rest stops or wild bean coffee and pie combo specials. The world was just so much bigger back then and it took forever to get anywhere.

Thank goodness for the industrial revolution and the ensuing technology boom. The world shrunk and became all fast food. Need milk? Pop out at 03h24 in the morning to your nearest petrol station convenience shop and get milk and a loaf of bread just like that. In the old days you had to get up and go out and milk a very grumpy cow, risk slipping in a cow pat and then had to bake a bread from scratch. The modern world is a marvel. Nothing is unobtainable at late hours. You can go out at any time in this fast food world and find what you want with ease......... Except if you decide to live in the greater Helderberg area. Apparently we still live in the dark ages here in what is Somerset West/ Strand/ Gordon`s Bay and including that “other” metropolis Grabouw. You try going out in the late evening and finding an open pharmacy. Apparently there are no emergencies in this area to warrant an emergency chemist. Yes, you try finding somewhere to buy plaster of paris in the evening for example.

My girl friend needed to repair the cast on my son`s arm which he had duly busted at school swinging like tarzan on the jungle gym. The cast he had on had gotten wet and went soggy and there was no way in hell we were going back to HH hospital to sit in a long queue at 20h00. My girl friend drove to every single shop in the vicinity and then some, it was all to no avail. Eventually we were instructed by the lady at private clinic to try in belville as they had a pharmacy that stayed open till sparrow fart. You see, we are one of the many who don’t have a medical aid due to the extortionate costs of medical aids these days. Yes, there are normal people living in the Somerset West area, we are not all super wealthy and claim on our medical aids for a box of tissues like some of those living in their “bubble world” do here in this very snooty hoity toity area. We are the poor folk in these peoples eyes, and they are the ones who by claiming for silly things on their medical aids are driving the medical aid prices through the roof. Anyways i digress, back to the plaster of paris debacle. My girlfiend duly headed off into the darkness to find this mystical fabled pharmacy in Bellville which is 30+ kilometres away and just about in Cape Town itself. She eventually did find the pharmacy and did get the plaster she needed but not before being tailed by two shady looking dudes with beanies on and reclining so far back in their seats that they looked almost as if they were sleeping, the pumping “gangsta” rap was also a tad disconcerting to say the least. After treating two red traffic lights as yields my girlfriend finally found a police car and the two wanna be snoop dogg gangsta`s made their laid back escape. The pharmacists were very helpful and my girlfriend returned home with the plaster of paris in hand, we must just note that it is now 01h00 in the morning! So much for the world getting smaller! We may as well be living on the dark side of the moon!

Somerset west / strand /Gordon`s bay area desperately needs a 24 hour pharmacy. The farmers from over the pass there in grabouw can drive the 12clicks to us here in civilisation to get their medicinal requirements. It is laughable that such a large town like Somerset West does not have a 24 hour or at least “late” hours pharmacy. The queuing system at the HH hospital is bizarre to say the least and a visit usually lasts at least 4 hours minimum! Driving to the other side of the peninsula (almost) is ridiculous and unsafe especially at night. What ended up being a 5 hour hunt for plaster of paris 40+ kilometres away could have been done and dusted in 6 or so kilometres and done in less than an hour.

WE NEED A 24 HOUR PHARMACY IN THE SOMERSET WEST AREA!

Michael b da silva

THE DA SILVA CODE
http://michaelbdasilva.blogspot.com
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