An ache
June 11, 2012
I went to the doctor’s today, to report an ache. The doctor prescribed some medicine. I went to the drug store, gave them the prescription, and told them I’d be back in 20 minutes. When I got back, the pharmacist said to me, “Oh, Mr. Gilbert, we need to ask you a question before filling out this prescription. Your insurance doesn’t cover this medication; are you sure you still want it?” I asked how much the medication cost; she said “Two fifty.” I said I could afford two fifty. When the cashier rang up the bill, I got out my two dollars and fifty cents. Then, as I began to contemplate the cashier’s quoting a somewhat longer figure, it dawned on me: the cost of the medication was $250.
Moral of the story: Don’t get sick.
June 11, 2012 at 11:03 pm
At least don’t get sick in the USA. I’m 53 and I don’t ever recall paying that much for prescription medication in Canada (though I am sure it must happen to some people). Wasn’t there a generic form your pharmacist could have proposed as a substitute, or was this one of those newfangled aches on which only the latest patented, non insurance-covered drugs have any effect? :-)
Don’t mention generics to drug manufacturers. It breaks their little hearts.
June 11, 2012 at 11:10 pm
As you prefer not to have politics on your site, I will not mention a political implication of your story that seems clear to to me, but only say that you are one of my favorite illustrators, and I hope your students benefitted from your drawing lessons.
“Victuris” I take to be from victus, the noun not the past particple, but “pro postea” I don’t get–is pro a preposition and postea an adverb?
June 11, 2012 at 11:18 pm
@ Michaël: I only have newfangled aches.
@ The Moron: Actually, “victuris” is the future active participle (ablative plural) of vivo, to live. Pro postea victuris thus means, “for the sake of those who are going to live afterwards.”
June 11, 2012 at 11:26 pm
Yup: “for those who will live after” = “for posterity”
June 12, 2012 at 12:21 am
Ah. “Victus” can mean a living, as in to earn a living, so I thought you were saying something like, “for the living [on] afterwards”. Perhaps I do need to enroll in the Lyceum School outside Cleveland.