Distilled Water

As we left my sister’s house around 11:30 pm, I realized that I needed to pick up distilled water. We stopped by CVS. I ran in and looked at the water section. Another man was also looking and he asked, “Are you looking for distilled water?” I replied, “Yes.” He said, “Me too. I needed it for my CPAP tonight.” I replied, “Me too. Let’s ask if they still have it in stock.” He asked the receptionist and she said, “If you don’t see it on our shelf, we ran out.” He asked, “Do you think Walgreens might have it?” She replied, “No.” As we walked out of the store, he said, “Oh shit!”

I went back to our car and told my wife what happened. She quickly looked up Walgreens and it would be closing in 13 minutes. As we headed over, the neon lights started to shut off. I parked the car and ran in quickly. I spotted the same man I encountered earlier carried four jugs of one-gallon distilled water. He told me, “There’s more on the shelf.” I ran back and grabbed one jug.

Even with our masks on, we looked at each other at the checkout with a sigh of relief. I wished him a great night of sleep as we parted. It occurred to me that I am now depending on distill water just like drugs. I dragged my wife and my sleeping children to the store to get my drug. I should have listened to my wife and bought one earlier in the day. I procrastinated until the last minute.

By the time all of us showered and brushed our teeth, it was almost one in the morning. The kids were knocked out, but I was still wide awake. Even the CPAP didn’t really help much.