Drug Store Dreamin'

Dude. I just realized something. I was randomly thinking about RiteAid, which is a drug store in the good ol’ US where they sell all kinds of useless, overpriced ish, and they also have a pharmacy. And I realized that France doesn't have drug stores like ours, and I was kind of excited to go shop at one when I get back to the States.

Okay, let me explain this a little better. I don’t know about the UK, but here in France, you have grocery stores and you have pharmacies. At a pharmacy, you can get prescriptions filled or you can buy various health and beauty products (such as contact lens solution), but that’s about it. At a grocery store, you get mostly everything else, but you can’t get the things you get at a pharmacy. Like contact lens solution. You won’t find it in a grocery store (I’ve looked in at least two). So I don’t know if the UK is like that. But America isn’t.

In America, you can get just about everything in a grocery store, short of prescription drugs. You can get make-up, contact lens solution and over-the-counter medications. And in a drug store, you can get lots of stuff that you can also get in a grocery store, such as shampoo and make-up and contact lens solution, in addition to your over-the-counter or prescription meds. But drug stores also have random stuff, like beach supplies and perfume and electronics. Basically, stuff you don’t know you need until you see it. Also, since there is less stuff in a drug store than a grocery store, there is more room for emphasis on beauty products. If I were in a grocery store, I wouldn’t ever be tempted to buy make-up, but I’m often tempted to buy make-up (that I never wear) in a drug store. So the sole purpose of a drug store is to get you to spend money on stuff you don’t need.

And it works. On me, at least. Everyone thinks Americans are dumb, but we are truly brilliant when it comes to getting you to spend money. We have capitalism down to an art.

Anyway, that was a really random blog. But I guess it’s a sign that I’m getting excited to come home. I can spend money I don’t have on things I don’t need again! Oh geez…you know there’s something really wrong with you when you start fantasizing about shopping at RiteAid.

This photo is completely unrelated to the above entry.