Sock It To Me

 

A week ago I wrote about the struggle Pennsylvanians are having with regard to getting the Covid vaccine. I wrote about how I had somehow scored an appointment for Wednesday at a Rite-Aid an hour and a half away but had no luck getting one anywhere for my husband.

So on Wednesday I set forth to get my shot. Himself warned me, "Be prepared for something to go wrong and you don't get it." I nodded. I was prepared. At least I thought I was.

I'd allowed plenty of time to get there and arrived a half-hour early. I was told to wait until the time of my appointment. No problem. The half-hour passed fairly quickly and then I was told that I wasn't on the schedule. I had had the foresight to bring my confirmation email which I handed over. The clerk went into the computer and learned that my appointment was in Shenandoah, a couple of hours further away. Nowhere on my confirmation slip did it indicate Shenandoah rather than Morgantown. There was nothing she could do for me. I didn't argue because it was all I could do to hold back the tears. My drive home was awful; I was nearly involved in not one but two accidents, one on the turnpike at 70 mph and the other near home when a teenager made a right turn darn near into my back seat. I arrived home rattled and shaken, and angry.

Fortunately, that was the end of my troubles for that day. A text message brought the surprising and most welcome news: A family member is employed by a small chain of drugstores and one of the stores had gotten the vaccine and was having a soft roll-out today, for friends and family only, to test their logistics before opening the clinic to the public. I jumped to my computer and scored a pair of appointments.

Today we drove two hours to the Lancaster area where the pharmacy was operating the clinic. It was an absolute model of efficiency. I told Joe that whoever had organized today's event should be put in charge of the vaccine for our county, if not the entire state. We go back in four weeks for the second shot. As my friend Mimi pointed out, we got a vaccine and a road trip. She's right. The Lancaster County countryside is so lovely and there was hardly any traffic.

I feel fine; no side effects (yet). I just keep touching the bandaid on my left arm to remind me that it is real.

Oh, and what does one wear to get the Covid shot? Why, one borrows one's sister's Dr. Fauci socks, of course!