Small Town Charm

A great deal of my time is spent cussing the small town scene in which I live. Originally I'm from Fayetteville/Ft. Bragg, NC...lived there til the age of 4 officially (though I "summered there with family years afterward), stayed a year with my Gma (the one that I now live with and help out) while my parents house was being built in the middle of BFE (bum fucking egypt) aka the stixx--aka Zuni, VA...peanut country.

From Kindergarten to high school...away to college and back again--I always come back here. Grandma moved out here a couple years after we did, my aunt and uncle across the field...(tragic) I love the summers when corn is planted in the side field (Grandma lives on a farm but sharecrops the land)...because it means they aren't all up in my shit with their disapproving everything...but I digress.

The moral of the story is I always end up here in good 'ol Zuni. In town, which is still not recognizable by most (Windsor) is a small town pharmacy. Up the road is Suffolk, further out is Chesapeake and then about 45 minutes to an hour away is Virginia Beach (which is the city that most people recognize.) Since the closest Walgreens or Walmart is in Suffolk--most people opt for the small town quaintness of Windsor Pharmacy.

Two recent incidents come to mind. A couple of months ago Jen was sick and we had stopped at the pharmacy. I was up front looking at random stuff and Jen was in the back looking for something to help with her cough. I get to the back to see her at the counter talking with Bob the pharmacist. He stops talking midsentence and says, "Hey, Tommy how are you doing...how is grandma..." and so forth...Jen turns around like what the hell. I introduce her as my girlfriend--though it turns out that she had already dropped my name and he perked up like my family was some big to do in the town (which we aren't, it's just a small town, lol)...Jen called her mom in Colorado to tell her about the experience and how Bob the pharmacist was so nice and new me and so on...she thought it was very cool and I had to smile.

Friday I rode to the pharmacy to pick up Grandmas meds and there was Bob behind the counter...(hes like over eighty mind you) he greeted mom and I with the best of hellos and immediately asked how grandma was doing. After he went through the list and all ten of her prescriptions were accounted for Bob reached in his pocket and pulled out his card...his special cards, the ones that have his HOME phone number printed on them, handing one to mom he told her to give it to grandma and if she needed ANYTHING, no matter what time it was to give him a call and he'd take care of it.

That's what's up. The epitomy of small town charm... you can't get that just anywhere. Certainly not at a Walgreens or a walmart...but definitely in Peanut country at Windsor Pharmacy...that's the shit that makes me smile.