Oct
8
2014
The Drug Store
Posted in Repentance 2 Comments
I was remembering a drug store.
That is what it used to be called.
Somewhere along the line, drug stores became pharmacies.
I like the sound of drug store much better.
The drug store I am thinking about was a social hub.
It usually had an ice cream counter with tall swivel stools.
The drug store that I went to as a little girl had green stools.
I needed help to climb up and my feet never reached the footrest.
People came in for lunch or a quick ice cream soda or milkshake.
There was always the famous grilled cheese sandwich prepared as you watched.
The woman behind the counter usually had a colorful uniform with an apron and hairnet.
She was much like the quintessential one-man band; multitasking with ease.
It was such a treat for me to go to the drugstore with my grandfather.
Usually as my mother and grandmother grocery shopped, we left for our own adventure.
He would help me up on the stool and we would wait for our milkshake.
Black and white was what he always ordered and we would always share.
The woman in the hairnet would scoop out the ice cream and put in the syrup.
This was usually done in a large silver cup that she expertly placed under the mixer.
She moved her hand a certain way making sure the concoction was properly mixed.
When she was satisfied, she poured the milkshake into two frosted glasses.
She would always give us a large straw and a long metal spoon for getting every drop.
I would look over at my grandfather and he would wink.
This was our time, he and I.
He always bought a package of square cheese crackers that we would share.
He would pay the woman in the hair net and always leave a tip.
The tip would always be left in the same way: on top of the napkin.
Why do you put it there, Pop-Pop? I would ask wondering if that is what you had to do.
So she can see it, my grandfather would say.
Enough said.
We would see the same people on our visits and he would always talk to them.
Sports, the latest news, and pride over his granddaughter whom he loved to show off.
He would finish his routine by buying a newspaper at the front cash register.
That is where the candy was kept and he always said I could get some; Just one, now!
He would take my hand and we would walk across the old wood floors.
I knew every creak in the floorboards.
I loved to step on the one board that made the most noise.
He would look at me and smile.
Today, we have pharmacies.
Cold, efficient places to get your medicine.
Pharmacies are almost like a mini-market.
You can buy milk, bread, cleaning supplies, school supplies, along with health care needs.
I miss the drug store of the past.
The drug store in It’s A Wonderful Life where George Bailey dreams of his travel.
The drug store where Mary Hatch declares her love for George, whispering in his bad ear.
The drug store where Marty McFly meets his father before he was his father.
A bit of Americana.
A simpler time.
Where, as the song goes, everybody knows your name.
Where catching up over a milkshake was the way to stay current on the news.
In the mid-1980’s during our country’s “war on drugs” the name drug store was removed.
It seemed politically incorrect to call something we all enjoyed such a terrible name.
The name, pharmacy, took its place but things were never the same.
The country was not the same; less trusting, less friendly, yet striving to be more efficient.
When the Babylonians came in and destroyed the temple, the people had been warned.
Prophets tried to tell the people that there would be terrible devastation.
The people were warned to stop worshiping idols and turn to the one true God.
The people failed to listen and they grew more stubborn and stiff-necked.
Nebuchadnezzar began the siege of Jerusalem.
Hunger and epidemics ravaged the city.
The city walls were breached.
The Holy Temple was set on fire and destroyed.
Solomon’s temple was destroyed in 586 BC.
The new temple was rebuilt about 516 BC.
The rebuilt temple had none of the grandeur of the first.
Some of the older people remembered.
And the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord had been laid. But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away. (Ezra 3:11-13)
The good old days.
The older people remembered how it was.
The younger people were just glad the temple was being rebuilt.
But had the lessons been learned?
Did the people remember why the temple was destroyed in the first place?
Did they know that by their turning away from the one true God they began the downfall?
No one was to blame but themselves.
They had been warned.
So have we!
Were the good old days better simply because of the times themselves?
Or were the times good because people put God first?
People, relationships, one-anothering went before cold efficiency and streamlined lives.
Were the good old days really good?
Yes, but the current days can be just as good, under one condition.
They can be just as good if God alone is first, God alone is worshiped, God alone is obeyed.
We must turn, not to another era but to the one, true God.
Then our sounds of joy will be true.
Our remembering will include all that God has done for us.
Our cries will be to tell others about the Awesome God we serve.
In Him, the good old days can be and should be right now.
If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
You make such a good point, Gina. We of a certain age do yearn for the good old days, but what can we give our children and grandchildren in THIs age where our world and society seems to be falling apart? We can give them God–teach them to love Him, honor Him, and obey Him. He is where we find true happiness.
Amen, Sue!