Could Have Been . . .

 Could Have Been . . . 

Faded photo of Canal View Pharmacy in Canal Winchester, Ohio in the 1960's.  Was a soda-jerk here through high school, which should have qualified me for a career as a pharmacist!

I could have become a pharmacist but did not.  I went to college at my parents behest, but had no clue what I wanted to achieve.  College was simply another step in the order of things, and while I had become rather adept at defying my parents in many ways, the edict to go to college was not one of them.  Fear of the military draft certainly played a major role in my acquiescence.  War in a jungle, fighting people I did not perceive as a threat, did not appeal to me.  Neither did a life lived by my own wits seem like a viable option.  College, with ‘three hots and a cot’ would be more secure for the time being.  Besides, my older brother regaled me with tales of interesting times fueled by alcohol.

That being my mindset, it was no wonder my academic achievements were less than stellar at the first college I attended for two years.  Willing to give me a second chance, and seeing that I really had no plan, my father instructed me to chose a profession, and then transfer to a more appropriate school.  I had worked in a drugstore all through high school, as a soda jerk.  Watching the pharmacist count pills, while sporting a crisp white professional looking smock, looked less than challenging and right up my alley!  The science courses were grueling and made more difficult as I created my own alcohol fueled legacy at the new university.  A year and a half later that school requested that I not return. 

My nitwit self was faced with having to live life by my wits.  Alcohol and better living through chemistry would become part of that equation, but a white smock and respect would not.

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