Page 10 - Boca ViewPointe - November '23

Page 10, Viewpointe November 2023
The Pay Phone Do It Right To

By William A. Gralnick “Make The Medicine Go Down”

Do you know where
there is a working coin-
operated telephone in By Harold Katz, R.Ph.
North Broward or South
Palm Beach County? I’ll The most effective
take it even if it’s anywhere in Broward or Palm Beach medication that can be
Counties. If you do, PULEEZE let me know. (561-277- prescribed for you will not
9299). Here’s why. do its best if taken at the
Most of you remember the corner pay phone, some wrong time. Many times
even inside a phone booth especially if they were in a the instructions given to
store. In Manhattan or the center of any big city, they you are not clear, or may
seemed to be on every corner or diagonally across the lead to improper decisions
street from one another. Out in the country, too. The on your part, the patient.
gasoline station, the food mart, the post office—they all Here are some examples bypass stomach nausea. Others are absorbed better with
had at least one. If a city had a Chinatown, the phone of improper prescribing: food. How much food? Are a few crackers enough, or
booths there were red, mostly, sometimes yellow, and “Take once a day.” When is the “once” supposed to is a full meal required? Depends upon the drug. For
looked, well, Chinese. be? Some medications are best ingested in the morning… most medications the crackers will suffice, but in the
In my time, it took only one thin dime to place your on an empty stomach… such as thyroid pills (or their case of antivirus medications and a few others, a full
call and thereafter a nickel, what…? After the first three replacements) for maximum absorption. Some should be meal is required to increase absorption.
minutes? I don’t remember. In some cities, like New taken at night because they cause drowsiness if taken during “Take with water.” Some medications have an
Orleans, the “entry fee” was the Buffalo, one nickel. During the day, such as antihistamines. For many medications any unpleasant taste or after-taste. Water assures that the pill
my teenage years when there was such a thing as a long- time will suffice…if you adhere to the same schedule daily. continues down without tasting it. Some osteoporosis drugs
distance telephone call that was recorded on the monthly “Take as needed”. This directive allows you to take come with the directive “Take with 8 ounces of water and do
phone bill or parents hanging around to hear what was being a dose whenever the symptoms arise, as with a cough not lie down for 30 minutes after ingestion”. This prevents
said, the telephone booths at Lou and Al’s candy store by preparation for example. But there are limits. You have irritating the throat and tissues on the way down.
the Avenue H local station was my savior (I threw in a to be aware of how long a single dose is effective; what In all instances, if in doubt, ask your pharmacist or put
Brooklynism for you… “by” instead of “near.”). There I is the limit on doses per day? What are the signs of in a call to the doctor. As mentioned, the best meds will fail
could have my privacy. In one of those booths took place overdosing? Furthermore, many cough preparations are if taken incorrectly. It takes extra effort; but having “the
an epic phone call. My girlfriend of four years dumped me not eliminated from the body quickly. A dosage directive medicine go down” correctly is worthy of the effort.
in my freshman year of college for my once-upon-a-time of “Take every 4 to 6 hours as needed” would be more (These helpful comments courtesy of the pharmacy
best friend. There were tears. There was yelling. There were beneficent and cover a patient’s needs. department of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston MA.)
reminiscences. Every few minutes a voice would join us to The directive “Take with food” can lead to some
say, “That will be five cents, please.” After about twenty choices. Some medications are taken with food to Harold Katz R.Ph., Edgewater Estates. 
“five cents, pleases” the voice said, “I’m going off duty.
The phone lines are on me. Good night.” The call lasted
about two and a half hours. B’H
As a writer, I’m always looking for something to Sabra Wall Decor
write about that has something different to it. Either I’m
looking for a new story or a new twist on an old story.
Shakespeare said the Greeks wrote all the themes and EstimatEs
everything that came after were just variations on them.
Usually, I’m doing new twists… One day I found myself
cell-phoneless. It was then that it first hit home that there Painting & More ...
was no pay phone nearby, or anywhere I could think of.
Ahhhh. Therein lies a story.
I began on the web to find that there are 71,000 pay • Popcorn Ceiling • Wallpaper Removal
phones left in America. What I did not find out is where
the heck they are. To date, I have also found out that • Knock Down
they aren’t around here. I found two websites. One gave • Drywall Repair
you places where pay phones were supposed to be. Fake
news. Either in person or by phone to an administrative Cell: (954) 931-4716 Licensed & Insured
office of a building or mall, I found there to be exactly Office: (561) 395-3057 CC: 03-11120-P-K
none where they were supposed to be. Then I found a
website that purported to tell me where their phones
were. With great anticipation, I call to find out they only
manufactured the phones and in fact, while they looked Norbert Graber, R. Ph.
like pay phones, they were high-technology imitations. and Lynn Graber, R. Ph.
To do justice to a story about a pay phone, I need to find a
pay phone. I want to feel it. I want to make a call on it. I want
to compare the clarity compared to my cell phone. I want to
have my memory waves resonate to the money going into the
slot and sliding into the coin box. I wanted to call a friend who
would remember pay phones and have a conversation about
having a conversation on pay phones. And to do this all I need
is one lousy (Brooklyn again) pay phone.
Help!

Columnist and author Bill Gralnick was born and
raised in Brooklyn, NY. He is writing a three-part
humorous memoir. The first is “The War of the Itchy
Balls and Other Tales from Brooklyn.” Just published
is the sequel, “George Washington Didn’t Sleep Here.”
Both are available on Amazon. You can find his writing
at https://www.williamgralnickauthor.com. 
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