Are We All in This Phone Call Now?

I’m having coffee with my friends Sue and Richard, which means we inevitably end up discussing the important social questions of our time.

Like: if you’re sitting in a quiet nail salon and another client is having a very loud phone conversation, are the rest of us now part of the call?

Nothing she was saying was particularly private, but suddenly I, my nail technician and hers were all unwilling participants. Is that rude? Is it particularly rude to the nail technician, who can’t exactly get up and leave? And at what point, if ever, is it socially acceptable to say something?

From there, we wander into the changing face of community pharmacy, and specifically, the “shop” part of the pharmacy. Once upon a time it was gifts, perfume, photo frames and things you could buy your mother for Christmas. Now that space increasingly seems to be filled with supplements, wellness products and things sitting somewhere in the hazy territory between healthcare and retail.

And finally, we reflect on something I can hardly believe: it’s been a year since I started making content online.

What began as me trying to answer questions about medicines and misinformation has turned into something much bigger, stranger and more wonderful than I expected.

Coffee, pharmacy, social etiquette and one year of putting myself on the internet. Just a normal catch-up, really.