"it's OK, because I saw the same one on QVC"

So after the last post about the strange gifts Grandma Looney gives, you may wonder where she shops. The local drug store, of course! It’s her #1 place to shop… for anything. No, it’s not a chain convenience store with a pharmacy; it’s actually a local mom-and-pop drug store. You didn’t think those existed anymore did you? I can only assume that this is one of the last few left, and that it is open solely because of the amount of shopping Grandma Looney does there.

The strange things this drug store must encounter with her are unimaginable. Luckily for you, though, having spent a lot of time with my grandmother when I was younger, I KNOW some of the strange things the drug store HAS encountered. Once, she  "persuaded"  the pharmacist to stay open late so she could pick up her prescription ... persuaded with a bottle of gin, that is.

This poor pharmacist.  He really should have just gone to medical school, for the amount of phone calls for diagnoses and medical information Grandma Looney makes.  Never mind calling or visiting the doctor first -- just call the drug store and tell them your symptoms. They always seem to know that is "going around." 
But pharmaceuticals and gifts are not the only goodies in the local drug store.  Grandma Looney is forever frequenting the local drug store to cash checks. I’m not talking about pay checks she needs cashed in a sketchy location. No, it’s not because she doesn’t have a bank account. It’s because Grandma Looney just doesn’t have (or at least doesn't know how to use) an ATM card. Why? If you find out, let me know. So regularly (I would estimate a few times a week) she writes herself a check made out to Cash and goes to the drug store to cash it. 

So, while she is in the drug store doing her banking, Grandma Looney checks out the knickknacks and tchotchkes, at which time the gift suggestions run rampant through her mind. I’m sure the drug store has some interesting things, like I would imagine a Hallmark would, but it would probably be the last place I’d go shopping for gifts for someone’s birthday. She once gave my stepdad a cat figurine and told us, “I found this at the drug store, but it’s ok because I saw the same one on QVC.” Now, there are so many things wrong with that statement – why would a cat figurine make a good present? Why buy one at the drug store? Why would it make it ok because it was on QVC?

By the way, the QVC obsession is a whole other story…