Day Six

I am an idiot. A T-total fool!!

As a man who lives in the height of the information age, I know everything. I own all knowledge about building things, fixing whatever is broken, producing whatever I need. I know all about science and medicine. Every scrap of human understanding is at my disposal.

Unfortunately, that information is not in my head. And if the source of that information disappears, I will know basically nothing.

I made it to Wal-Mart today - still terrified of how empty everything is. I grabbed some canned food, camping supplies, water, more batteries... and then I saw the pharmacy. And that's when it struck me...

Everything I know about medicine I get from the Internet!

Last month my boy woke up with a fever. A simple trip to the doctor, a quick prescription for antibiotics, and his strep throat was cured. What the hell do I do if I wake up tomorrow with a fever? What if I cut myself? Fall and break an arm?

When I first came upon the pharmacy area, I freaked out. It was the final straw, and my mind broke under the weight. I just stood their in the isle and screamed like a four-year-old child throwing a temper tantrum. I prayed that security would come and grab me, throw me out for disrupting the peace.

They never came. The echos of my screams were the only thing that assailed me.

It took me about an hour to regain control of myself. When I was calm, I grabbed everything that I recognized. Amoxicillin, Penicillin, and Paxil. Short list, and I left the Paxil where I found it. Though hindsight being 20/20, I probably should have grabbed it anyway. I did end up taking everything else I could carry, whether I recognized it or not.

I loaded it all up in my SUV, leaving what I could not fit sitting in the parking lot.

I have spent the past few hours on Google. WebMD gave me a 404 Page Not Found error. So have many of the pages I have tried to pull up. Still, I have printed out information on everything from how to grow penicillin at home to how to start a fire by hand. I even found information on many of the drugs I snagged today and found that most are worthless to me. I will continue to do this until I either run out of paper, or print out what's left of the internet.

Please, dear God... don't take Google away from me.