Chip It

I remember when Gary and I were broke. The night before Christmas, five minutes before closing, we headed into the Christmas tree lot to see if we could snag a bargain. “Any discounts?” I asked sheepishly. The lady looked at me.

“I’ll chip it,” she said.

“What?”

“No discounts. I’d chip a tree first.” Gary and I looked at each other, surprised.

At a vaccine clinic today I thought of that lady. I was there to help an elderly person and talked to the nurse. “Any chance you’ll have an extra shot at the end of the day?” I asked. “I’d love to get vaccinated.”

“Are you 65?”

“No.”

“I don’t think we’ll be allowed to give it to you,” she said.

“So you’ll just throw the extras away?”

“It’s up to the pharmacist. But yesterday we had to turn people away.”

In other words, they’ll chip it. Just like the lady at the Christmas tree lot, except this time, it’s deadly.