We are consumers

There's no way to get around it - we're consumers - we buy and buy and buy. And I'm one of those people who actually dislikes shopping most of the time. Actually, it's not the act of looking at merchandise, trying things on, comparing prices etc., it's the other people who are doing the same thing at the same time that I mostly can't stand.

I really am rather anti-social in that way. So when D came home today and asked if I needed something to wear for the wedding this weekend, I was confused and a bit frustrated. I thought we had talked about it and decide our money was a bit too tight to afford new clothing wear, so I had dug around in the closet trying to put something together (I had found an outfit - I wasn't crazy about it, but I thought it would get me by). But then he suggested going shopping tomorrow afternoon to get something specifically wedding-like, which I totally vetoed because I HATE Saturday afternoon at the mall - anytime but Saturday afternoon, PLEASE! (On the flip side, I certainly wanted something more appropriate to wear - a quandry to be sure.)

So we went tonight, and I found a cute top to go with an already owned skirt - a compromise between the desire to wear something new and nice, and the need to watch my pennies.

But then I had to blow the equivalent of a nice outfit at the pharmacy anyway.

When oldest daughter goes off to Honduras, we don't want her to get malaria, so she'll take quinine as a prophylactic a week before she leaves, for the duration of her trip, and four weeks after - that's 11 weeks worth of medication.

I went to the pharmacy this afternoon, submitted the prescription, paid for it (was happy it wasn't too steep), took it home and thought nothing else of it. When she got home, she opened and said, 'mom, there's only four here'. Sure enough, they'd only given us enough for four weeks.

Now, when I go through the McDonalds drive through, I know enough to double check the bag before I drive away. After all, the job only pays minimum wage and anybody can work there (they gave me a job after all!), but when I go to the pharmacy, I figure I shouldn't have to double check the bag. Apparently, I'm wrong on that count.

So we go back, and the pharmacist tells us we only got a month's worth because that's all the insurance company will cover per lot and we'd have renewals for the rest.

Hello! The girl's in Honduras. She can't just hop a flight back up here to renew the prescription.

So, okay. I don't want my kid to get malaria, so I fork out full price for the second month's worth. And then when she gets back, we can get the final three weeks (and insurance will cover it again). *sigh* Good thing I was frugal on the outfit - turns out I needed that money to pay for drugs.

Having to choose between clothing and drugs - what am I, in Hollywood?