I believe that having to change yourself so that other people will like you is ridiculous and stupid. You could say it took me a few tries to figure out that I wasn’t what society wanted, and a couple more tries to figure out that I didn’t care. I essentially shut down my freshman year. I really felt like I needed to be part of something so people would like me. I changed the way I looked and acted so people would like me. I would go out of my way to get fashionable clothing. I changed the way I talked, started saying dumb things and even changed the music I listened to. It wasn’t good for me.

With chain stores, they are all exactly the same. There is no flavor of individuality. I work at Paulsen’s Pharmacy. It’s the kind of place where you go in a couple times and we really do remember who you are. We are happy to see you and happy to hang out with you. Paulsen’s is the kind of place where you come in and we know your name and we know exactly what you’re expecting that day. And if we can’t find it, we will call your doctor and call your insurance and find out why its not there. That’s something that Rite Aid just doesn’t do.

Paulsen’s is a dying breed. The pictures over the milkshake bar, the milkshake machine from 1952, the fact that we actually make handmade sodas. The old-timers that come here are looking for that feeling. They know what a community looks like. I believe a pharmacy should know your name and face, and exactly your dosage, and that the milkshakes there should be thick and so runny to where you almost can’t drink them through a straw.

Gary, the guy who runs the whole place, is not afraid to be himself. People that have come in, Gary remembers them. And he asks people funny questions. Sometimes, he will threaten funny things like 20 lashings with a wet noodle. He has been the same guy since 1941. He uses the same phrases that he did then. It took me a while to figure out that being me was the right way to do it. The less I worry about what other people are thinking of me, the happier I am. A lot of people will come in to Paulsen’s and kind of be crabby. I’ll be myself and they’ll leave smiling. I really feel good about that. I am happy making people happy. And that’s what has kept Paulsen’s itself for so long.

I think it all ties together. I believe you should stay close to your origins, don’t let the chain stores of the human world tell you what to do or be. I am an individual like Paulsen’s.