I didn't get my flu shot yesterday as I was planning.

The only place in town offering them currently is one of the pharmacies. So I went out there, talked to the pharmacy tech (a former student of mine! Yeah, you can't get away from them). And he said, "I'm sorry, but we need permission from a primary-care physician for us to give the shot."

I kind of looked at him in disbelief - I mean, heck, GROCERY STORES in my parents' town are giving flu shots.

"We're the only state in the Union that requires it," he said, ruefully. "It's set to change in early November, but for now, we have to have permission."

Seriously, Oklahoma? Seriously? You think I cannot tell the difference between a proper, well-lit, clean pharmacy and Joe-Jack offering Mystery Shots out of the trunk of his car?

I just sighed. And said, "I don't really have a 'primary care' physician in the sense of an internist or a GP. I have an allergist in Ardmore..." (And because he was one of my former students, I wasn't going to mention that I also have a GYN. Because I tend to be shy about such things.)

So he's going to fax the permission slip to my allergist, who is going to sign it and fax it back to him, then the pharm tech will have to call me to let me know it's OK for me to get the flu jab. And three people - the tech, my doctor, and me (the tech asked me to call the doctor's office to let them know to be expecting the fax) had a few minutes of their time wasted.

I suppose when the law was put into place there was some good rationale for it - I suppose SOMEONE SOMEWHERE was stupid and got shot up with something bad for them, or some person somewhere was using the same syringe over and over again. But once again, the few bad apples makes it difficult for everyone else.

But what gets me? I could have driven the 1/2 hour to Sherman and probably got the jab, no questions asked, no permission needed. (Unless that law extends blanket-wise to all residents of the state. Cripes. I'd hate to be in some foreign country, be sick, be somewhere that's not an "approved" clinic and have to wait for a Stateside doctor to say, "Yeah, you can give her the anti-yellow-fever medicine as a vaccine.")

Not to mention that after working up all my courage to go in and get jabbed in the arm, I'm going to have to do it again today or tomorrow. Ugh. I only have a limited supply of courage re: needles. And I will need extra this fall.

(And I wonder, when the H1N1 shots come out, will we have to go 'round this merry-go-round all over again? And yeah, I am going to get an H1N1 shot after all, provided the kids and pregnant ladies and health-workers and people with badly compromised immune systems have got theirs first; I've been reading about the vaccine and not only is it NOT live virus, it is produced using very similar techniques to the seasonal flu vaccine - which is arguably one of the safer shots out there. So I've rethought my concerns, especially after an incident last week where a hacking and sneezing student took a test and then handed it to me.)