Snot Funny Until it Happens to You

I have a head cold. It is nothing serious. It is nothing to make me call in sick to work. It is just something that is causing me to be stuffy, sneezy and go through so many tissues that I had to go out and buy the special soft ones with lotion so my nose doesn't fall off. My work trash can is filled with crumpled up Kleenex--and snot. I wonder how much all that snot weighs? Anyway...I digress...

Last night, I stopped by my local grocery store to purchase a decongestant. I didn't want a "wussy" decongestant. I wanted a 12 hour, serious, kick-butt decongestant. I grabbed the little tag for the product I was needing and made my way to the pharmacy counter.

This was my first time purchasing a non-prescription item that contained whatever controversial ingredient it is that people are using to make crystal meth (or whatever it is that they are doing with it). I have to say, I felt a little odd.

I had to present my driver's license. They had to type on the computer for a while and stare at me. I had to sign some paperwork. I had to pay for it right there instead of taking it up and paying for it with the rest of my groceries and then it was stapled closed inside of a bag.

When it was all said and done and I took my safely stapled package to the drink mixer aisle (nothing like a spicy bloody mary with horseradish to open up your sinuses and help you forget your troubles) and I wondered if all of the fuss was really helping to slow down the world of illegal drugs or if people were still able to get them since the ingredients can still be legally purchased. How many boxes of Mucinex-D would I have to buy before people would question me?

In any case, I just have to wonder if a) anyone else feels as weird as I do buying decongestant from behind the counter, b) if the sales at these drug companies have dramatically dropped due to the weirdness involved in purchasing, c) if I didn't drive, whether or not they would sell me the product, and finally and most importantly, d) whether or not a combination decongestant and bloody mary mix would be marketable to anyone else but me.

Just wondering.