A Free Flu Shot

I've had a heck of a time getting my regular flu shot this year. One day when Ned was out in the car he stopped at the De La Fe hospital and got his. I stopped by Chelo's Pharmacy a few days later to get mine. Chelo gives the shot in the back of the store. She was out of vaccine. She told me that the hospital was out also but they would have it the next week. The next week I was going to Houston. So I thought no problem I'll get it in Houston. When I stopped in at the drug store care clinic in Houston there were seven patients ahead of me. So I thought, okay, I'll get it when I get back to SMA. By the time I tried to get the shot in SMA, Chelo and the hospital were out again. I tried again on the next trip to Houston but this time the care clinic in Houston was out of vaccine. So I thought no problem, I'll get it when I get back to SMA.......are you getting the picture? This routine went on for about four rounds. When I asked at Chelo's this week, they were still out of vaccine but they told me the health center in La Lejona and the hospital had the vaccine.

We decided to try the health center since we had never been there. It would be a good idea to know where it was located. We didn't have an address but we knew where the Colonia was so we drove to La Lejona and started asking people where the clinic was. We only had to ask four times before we found it. Thank goodness, La Lejona is a small Colonia.

Before you went through the gate, there was someone with hand sanitizer and you had to clean your hands before you entered. Right outside the front door, there was a man at a table and we asked him where to go to get a flu shot. He said to turn right and go to the desk. We looked inside the health clinic and thought that this could take the rest of the day. It was crowded....mostly with women and tiny infants. Maybe this was baby check-up day.

We picked our way through the mamas and babies and presented ourselves at the desk. She had a tablet with a list of names and she wanted to add our name to the list. No one was marked off the list and once again we thought it was going to take the rest of the day. We gave her my name and age and address. She filled out a small printed form and motioned us into a exam room. She came in with us, carefully washed her hands, prepared the injection, and gave me the shot.

She handed us a copy of the small form and Ned asked her where do we pay. She told us that we didn't pay for the shot. It was free! Thank you, Mexico