Is It A Pharmacy?

I was driving to an appointment yesterday in LA.  I needed to stop at a pharmacy and buy some Advil.  I had a headache developing from all the traffic and smog.

I saw the familiar sign and pulled into the parking lot.

This is the universal  sign that means "pharmacy"  in France. 

When the light is on, the store is open, when it's off, it's closed. 

CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreens don't exist in France.  The normal French pharmacy is very small.  Most of the things for sale are behind the counter so you have to ask for them; even Advil.

Back to LA.  I walked into the store.  It was kind of dark and not very welcoming.  No one else was in this store except me.  Finally a young guy, very shabbily dressed, walked out from the back room.  "Hi", he said.

Suddenly, I realized, I'm not in Kansas anymore.  I'm not in France.  I'm in a medical marijuana dispensary.

This is the sign that was out front.  Actually, it was a flag.  That should have been my first clue of impermanence. It was so familiar, but not quite the same.

I made my excuses and left the store. Laughing as I got into my car, I realized that I would never have had the courage to park and enter this kind of store.  So this was an interesting mistake.