A Pharmacist

 2nd booster shot at a pharmacy in the back of a tiny organic grocery store in Williamsburg. It was a one-man operation. I called to inquire about a second shot and the clerk/pharmacist  picked up. I arrived and he was there. He handed me some forms to fill out while answering emails on a desktop. Stacks of paper covered most of the counter. Skyscrapers and mid-level condos of insurance forms, records, questionnaires. 

While the pharmacist loaded the needle he answered the phone. He talked to a veterinarian and confirmed a new order of pills for someone's cat while typing on the computer and reading the instructions for the booster shot. It felt like I was seeing someone in love with their work and drowning in it. Controlled chaos that was teetering on the brink of anarchy. But maybe the stacks of paper made sense to him. Maybe he has a system. Maybe his system is just plugging leaks and putting out fires. He administered the shot, notated my CDC card, placed my papers on a pile close to the computer, and went back to answering the phone. 

I thanked him. Nothing too awkward but an eye-contact 'thank you.' He pinched his glasses and raised himself up from the computer. His face flushed with some remembrance of...humanity. "You're welcome." As I walked back through the organic chips sections the pharmacy phone erupted again. I'm sure the stacks grew a bit higher. 

There are people out who hold the thin thread of humanity together with their work. Most of them toil at computers surrounded by coffee cups and gum wrappers. Most of them are never acknowledged. It's not this was some heroic proletariat act of class revolution. I guess it just made me aware of all the times I do not see the person at the desk, drowning in papers and holding everything together.