[Magdalen] Shingles.

[Cantor03 at aol.com]

I discovered the local Rite Aid Pharmacy was giving the  shingles/zoster
vaccination.  As with the flu shot, no appointment was necessary, and  I
presented myself and my insurance card this morning.  Good thing that  I had
coverage, because I noticed that the real cost of the vaccination was  
something
like $250.  I paid nothing.
 
The attendant at the desk presented me initially with a two page, fairly  
detailed
health inventory before the injection.  It was completely in  Spanish.  
Luckily,
I could read enough Spanish to complete the form without any comment.
Has it come to this, I thought, that one has to specially request an  
English
form?
 
The nurse giving the injection came out of her office all embarrassed  
because
of the mix-up.  I obviously do not look Hispanic!  In any case  the deed was
done, and I went on my way, stopping on the way home at Dunkin Donuts 
for a breakfast sandwich and their "gourmet" coffee.
 
I remember quite vividly developing the characteristic generalized rash  of
chickenpox when I was a junior in high school.  It was in the middle  of 
a periodic epidemic so that figuring out what was going on was not  
difficult.
I think I stayed home a week, and the village health officials came by  to
mount the contagion notice on our front door.  My younger brother had 
chickenpox at the same time.
 
 
David Strang.