I love Netflix. I mean like really REALLY love it. I have spent more time watching full seasons of old shows when I don't feel well than anything else. One of the ones I watched recently was Law and Order: Criminal Intent. It was great having something to take my mind off anything and everything. And then came the episode I watched today. Today's episode was the one about the pharmacist who diluted cancer drugs to make money to support his image in the community and to meet his charity obligations to the church. The funny thing is, I notice that the disclaimer at the beginning of the show seemed different for this one. It said that it was based on an actual case!
Oh my Gosh! Someone actually did this? So I had to look it up because at first I couldn't believe that it was true. After all... I manage a pharmacy and I know tons of pharmacists and I could not believe for a second that anyone in that profession could think up that crime, commit that crime or get away with it. Then I figured maybe the pharmacist only did it a couple of times and got caught. Imagine my surprise to discover that for nine years, an independent pharmacist who was licensed to compound and dispense IV drugs had been diluting his medications of life saving drugs to make money. Not once or twice, but 98,000 times. Can you imagine? One of the drugs he did this to was one that I have taken (Taxol). Kinda scary. I can only imagine how those patients must have felt when the truth came out.
So, watching the episode and then looking up the actual case made me do a lot of thinking. First, what can make a person do something like this? Or for that matter, what makes anyone commit a crime against another living creature? Just look at the incidents that have happened in the past few weeks, and it's hard to understand exactly what goes wrong in a persons' head that makes them forget that others have feelings too? The pharmacist who did that justified himself by the rationale that the patients were dying anyway. Dying anyway... And who knows what was wrong with the school shooter, or the man who set a fire so he could shoot first responders. What is going wrong with this world? It's like these people forgot that their victims were actual living humans.
Maybe... and this is just me thinking here... maybe it's because we are losing our connection to the world. I mean, for people who are as "connected" as we are, with our phones that update where we are and who we are with, and computers that ask us how are we feeling... seriously, we really aren't very connected at all. I'm not saying we are all wandering alone in cyber space, but honestly, how often do we have real physical contact with people outside our own homes? I do... but I also invite it. I seek out the people who look like they are touchers or huggers or bump-up-againsters. My day would not be complete without at least two or three hugs, a few arm pats and at least one curl tousling head rub. So I know I am being reminded daily that I am a part of the great family humanity. But how many people go through their days and weeks without touching and being touched? I know... not everyone likes having their personal space invaded, but isn't that one of the things that makes us human, that invasion of our space? Doesn't everyone need to be reminded sometimes that other people are real, that they are the same? Look out at the animal kingdom. They know that touch is an important part of being in a community. They groom each other. They play with each other. They scent each other ( Although I do draw the line at that... no one is going to spray urine on me and get away without being smacked). The point is... animals know that the way to establish ties is through contact. So maybe we need to be a little more conscious of other people and start trying to connect. Smile at a stranger. Don't be afraid of a little contact. Lets try to remind each other that we are all a part of this big family of humanity and maybe the world can change.
If you need a hug... come see me. I'll be at work dispensing hugs and smiles, free with every purchase.
Oh my Gosh! Someone actually did this? So I had to look it up because at first I couldn't believe that it was true. After all... I manage a pharmacy and I know tons of pharmacists and I could not believe for a second that anyone in that profession could think up that crime, commit that crime or get away with it. Then I figured maybe the pharmacist only did it a couple of times and got caught. Imagine my surprise to discover that for nine years, an independent pharmacist who was licensed to compound and dispense IV drugs had been diluting his medications of life saving drugs to make money. Not once or twice, but 98,000 times. Can you imagine? One of the drugs he did this to was one that I have taken (Taxol). Kinda scary. I can only imagine how those patients must have felt when the truth came out.
So, watching the episode and then looking up the actual case made me do a lot of thinking. First, what can make a person do something like this? Or for that matter, what makes anyone commit a crime against another living creature? Just look at the incidents that have happened in the past few weeks, and it's hard to understand exactly what goes wrong in a persons' head that makes them forget that others have feelings too? The pharmacist who did that justified himself by the rationale that the patients were dying anyway. Dying anyway... And who knows what was wrong with the school shooter, or the man who set a fire so he could shoot first responders. What is going wrong with this world? It's like these people forgot that their victims were actual living humans.
Maybe... and this is just me thinking here... maybe it's because we are losing our connection to the world. I mean, for people who are as "connected" as we are, with our phones that update where we are and who we are with, and computers that ask us how are we feeling... seriously, we really aren't very connected at all. I'm not saying we are all wandering alone in cyber space, but honestly, how often do we have real physical contact with people outside our own homes? I do... but I also invite it. I seek out the people who look like they are touchers or huggers or bump-up-againsters. My day would not be complete without at least two or three hugs, a few arm pats and at least one curl tousling head rub. So I know I am being reminded daily that I am a part of the great family humanity. But how many people go through their days and weeks without touching and being touched? I know... not everyone likes having their personal space invaded, but isn't that one of the things that makes us human, that invasion of our space? Doesn't everyone need to be reminded sometimes that other people are real, that they are the same? Look out at the animal kingdom. They know that touch is an important part of being in a community. They groom each other. They play with each other. They scent each other ( Although I do draw the line at that... no one is going to spray urine on me and get away without being smacked). The point is... animals know that the way to establish ties is through contact. So maybe we need to be a little more conscious of other people and start trying to connect. Smile at a stranger. Don't be afraid of a little contact. Lets try to remind each other that we are all a part of this big family of humanity and maybe the world can change.
If you need a hug... come see me. I'll be at work dispensing hugs and smiles, free with every purchase.
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