Charlottetown, 2014:
I winced. "Think I have a bit of a sore throat coming on."
"Take a spoonful of honey mixed with cinnamon," Susan advised.
Grateful but unconvinced, I suggested a visit to my medicine chest, a box of pharmaceutical wonders which Susan had yet to glimpse.
"What on earth have you got in there?" She asked, peering in as I removed the lid to reveal a cornucopia of salves, balms and ungents, bottles, packets and tubes.
"I think I have Chloraseptic Spray. Yes, here it is," I announced, as I proudly withdrew the dark green bottle from its somewhat battered box. "Look, you pump the top and a jet of soothing goo drowns your tonsils." I demonstrated the procedure with a flourish.
"Give me that. Looks like it's old," Susan said.
I handed it over with a degree of trepidation. She squinted at the small print and her eyebrows arched suddenly, always a cause for concern.
"This says 2007!" She barked.
"But, but, but..."
"No buts. It's going in the bin right now!"
I watched as she tossed the wondrous potion into my bin. I was crestfallen. Honey and cinnamon it would have to be.
Charlottetown 2016:
"I'm all congested." Susan whimpered.
"Awww, poor you. I think I have some Dristan nasal spray. Hang on, I'll check. I could feel her eyes boring into the back of my head as I skipped to the bathroom. I returned with a smile carrying my medicine chest. No sooner had I located the squeezy bottle than she whipped it from my hand and began examining it.
"Geez Paul, 2004! Did they even make it back then?"
"But I've used it recently," I offered. "And it still works."
"I'm not squirting that ancient stuff up my nose, " She said, snorting loudly for emphasis. "And while we're about it, what else have you got lurking in there?"
"Errr, umm, nothing much." I hooked a defensive arm around the medicine chest. "Just some things." I avoided eye contact while she stirred the contents and pulled out a small box, still sealed.
"Good Lord Paul, these eye drops are dated 2002!"
"Oh, that'll be ok," I said. "I'm sure they're fine. Please may I keep th..."
"And what the heck is this? And this? And this?" came the snapped response. Now she had her hand on her hip and was tapping her foot so I knew she meant business. "In the bin, all of it! And no dumpster-diving!"
I will have to find a new hiding place for my 1999 vintage eardrops.
