[Vision2020] Rural and remote

[Joan Opyr]

On 12 Mar 2006, at 15:50, John D wrote:

> Joan Opyr <joanopyr at moscow.com> wrote:
>
>  > I have a cowgirl friend who grew up in Plevna, Montana.
>
>  According to wal-mart.com, the closest Wal-Mart to Plevna with a 
> pharmacy is the one in Miles City, at a distance of 67 miles. There 
> are two closer alternative pharmacies in Baker, at a distance of 12.5 
> miles (Baker Rexall Drug Store and Lawler Drug). There is another 
> closer pharmacy in Bowman, North Dakota, at 60 miles distane (The 
> Bowman Drug CO). In Miles City itself, Albertsons and Big Sky Pharmacy 
> are two alternatives to Wal-Mart. There are also three alternative 
> pharmacies in Glendive, at a distance of 86 miles (Albertsons, F & G 
> Pharmacy, and Gabert Clinic Pharmacy).
>
>  > There are places more remote in heaven and earth than are dreamt of 
> in
>  > your philosophy, John D.
>
>  What do you think my philosophy is?

First, I know what your original question was, John D.  Are there 
really places so remote that WalMart is the only pharmacy available?  
Saundra and others tell me that there are such places, and I am willing 
to believe them.  Why?  Because I don't want to look it up.  Also, I 
think you're failing to take into consideration the many pharmacy users 
who don't have access to cars, buses, taxi cabs or mobile chairs from 
the Scooter Store; in other words, the poor.  How many people must rely 
on a WalMart Pharmacy because it's the only thing within walking (or 
rolling) distance?  Consider that and then get back to me.

BTW, when I suggested that "there are places more remote in heaven and 
earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy," I wasn't actually 
speculating about your, John D's, philosophy.  I was paraphrasing a 
rather famous line from Shakespeare's "Hamlet."  Again, why?  I refer 
you to your original question above.  Also, I have to make my expensive 
English degrees pay off somehow.  Being able to complete the NY Times 
crossword puzzle without the aid of a dictionary just isn't doing it 
for me anymore.

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.joanopyr.com

PS: Let's reverse this situation, from a WalMart Pharmacy refusing to 
stock Plan B to, say, the Baker Rexall's  hypothetical fundamentalist 
pharmacist refusing to supply a legal form of birth control.  I'd be 
interested to know if you imagine, John D, that 67 miles from Plevna to 
Miles City is a realistic driving distance?  In Montana?  In the 
winter?  Sixty-seven miles is a little closer than the distance from 
Moscow to Spokane, taking the Palouse, Garfield, and Oakesdale route, 
but it's not a distance I'd care to traverse for the sake of filling a 
prescription that wasn't available at the Baker Rexall.  (Just for fun, 
I think I'll look up the phone number for the Baker Rexall and ask them 
if they stock Plan B.  Or that other foolproof just-after prescription, 
warm Coke and an aspirin.)

PPS: As a k. d. lang fan, I happen to know that there's a pharmacy in 
Consort, Alberta, population 600.  I know this because lang's father 
was the pharmacist.  It's not a WalMart, either; it's a po-dunky little 
drugstore like the Baker Rexall.  Is this information relevant to the 
original point of Melynda's and Saundra's posts?  Nope.  No more than 
your argument, John.  Jeez -- first the Shakespeare quotation and now a 
(paltry) chance to display my vast knowledge of trivia related to the 
world's greatest living singer.  It's getting pretty sad here in the 
Opyr-Huskey living room.

PPPS: Yes, Ted, I know you prefer Jane Siberry.