November 6, 2015
Dear Everyone:
Before I flew off to
Washington, D.C. last month, I decided it would be
a good idea to get a
flu shot.
Just in case.
For me, there are three ways to get a flu shot.
First, go to my Primary Care Physician (PCP).
Presumably, the flu shot would be free, covered by my
Health
Plan; but the visit to the doctor’s office would cost the usual $25
“co-payment”. Plus, I would
have to make an appointment.
The second choice would be to go to the Big National Grocery Chain
store, complete with pharmacy, where the shot would not be covered by my
Health Plan and would cost about $35.
But no appointment required.
And they give you a coupon worth 10% off most everything you buy
on a single visit.
The third choice would be to go to the Big National Pharmacy Chain
store, where the injection would not be covered by my Health Plan and
would cost about $35. But no
appointment required. And
they give you a “Pass” worth 20% off various products.
What I found out a few years ago is that “Pass” is actually a “bait and
switch”. A person would hold
their “card” under a reader and the reader would spit out a bunch of
coupons, each worth 20% off on a particular product.
Only they were almost all for products that person would have no
reason to purchase.
Example: “Our computer shows
you don’t have any pets. So
here’s 20% off on pet food.”
Or, “our computer shows you’re 64 years old.
So here’s 20% off on our store brand of
tampons, which we know
you won’t buy.”
Ultimately, Choice Number Two was the best from an economical point of
view. So I stopped in the
Big National Grocery Chain store, no appointment necessary, paid my $35,
got my shot and a coupon that saved me better than the $10 difference
between the store and the doctor’s office.
And I flew off to Washington D.C. with a sore tooth, the result of an
emergency root canal, but no
influenza.
Last Tuesday, I was in the dentist’s office to get a new
crown put in
place. But there was a
problem with the crown and I wound up going home with yet another
“temporary” crown, and another appointment in two weeks for another
permanent crown. And at
first, I blamed the headache and aching neck muscles on lying upside
down in the dentist’s chair.
But a few hours later I realized that, while the flu shot was holding
the influenza virus at bay, a
plain-old-ordinary cold virus had snuck in
under the radar. I had
caught a cold. The usual
sneezing, coughing, aching muscles, not-getting-any-sleep-at-night
symptoms. In other words:
Abject misery.
So not much of a Letter this week.
Everybody stay healthy.
And “Jeannie” wants something called a “Fitbit” for
Christmas.
Love, as always,
Pete
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