I think “They” are trying to kill us

Stumbling from my bed in the inky darkness, I struggle to find my slippers.

The house is cold and I shiver, thinking “Where is a hot flash when I REALLY could use one?”

What prompted me to leave the warmth of my down filled duvet cover and my silky bamboo sheets?

I have a cough.

A tickling cough that is keeping me awake and I need to sleep….I HAVE got  to get some sleep.

Turning the lights on in the kitchen, I swing open the medicine cabinet, which isn’t really a medicine cabinet insomuch as it is the cupboard that houses a growing collection of bottles and foil packets containing things for aches, pains and the occasional cough. We keep them in a plastic square organizer thingy but it is obvious that we need to create a better means of controlling the inventory. Boxes are empty of their contents, said contents now separate from their dosage instructions…..

The “real” medicine….the stuff counted out and labeled by a pharmacist, is in the next cupboard. I should note that the collection is growing.

Another cough attack takes over and I try to muffle the sound with the sleeve of my housecoat.

I don’t want to wake the dogs up because they are old and get confused easily and they would probably think it is morning and need to go out and pee….and right now it is about me and not about them.

I grapple for a bottle that looks familiar and I bring it close to my eyes and then as far away as my arms can reach, hoping that the fuzzy words would become clear.

Yes! I can confirm that it is cough medicine, but how much do I take?

My reading glasses lay beside the bed and without them, the dosage listed on the bottle resembles sand art. All of a sudden I am playing a chess game with my life! Russian Roulette played with cough medicine. How much do I take? Will it interact with any of my “real” medicine?

I think they are trying to kill us and by “they” I mean the people who design medicine bottles. Do they not realize that we will not be at our optimum when we are needing to take said medicine. Our eyes could be fluid filled, our nasal passages draining! Even those with the most robust eyesight could be confused.

Magic anti-inflammatory medication is housed in bottles with a twist off cap that no arthritic hand could master.

Cold and Flu caplets are hidden beneath foil and paper so strong that a sharp knife is needed to free them from their little pods.

Sharp knife? Dark Kitchen? Fumbling with foil? Blurred vision?

“They” ARE trying to kills us.