You know the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s? Audrey Hepburn, as Holly Golightly, is standing in the early morning light gazing in the window at Tiffany’s. We find out later that she feels happy and secure doing this because the place calms her.

Holly tells Paul: I don’t want to own anything until I find a place where me and things go together. I’m not sure where that is but I know what it is like. It’s like Tiffany’s. He says: Tiffany’s? You mean the jewelry store. She replies: That’s right. I’m just CRAZY about Tiffany’s!

The dialogue continues:

Holly Golightly: You know those days when you get the mean reds?
Paul Varjak: The mean reds, you mean like the blues?
Holly Golightly: No. The blues are because you’re getting fat and maybe it’s been raining too long, you’re just sad that’s all. The mean reds are horrible. Suddenly you’re afraid and you don’t know what you’re afraid of. Do you ever get that feeling?
Paul Varjak: Sure.
Holly Golightly: Well, when I get it the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany’s. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there. If I could find a real-life place that’d make me feel like Tiffany’s, then – then I’d buy some furniture and give the cat a name!

Well, this might sound overly dramatic, but sometimes this is how I feel about Shoppers Drug Mart. It’s not fancy and atmospheric like Tiffany’s, but its vastness and cleanliness and usefulness fills me with a unique sense of calm. The variety of products fills me with subdued joy and I like to check out absolutely every single choice that is available to me whether I’m buying toothpaste or band aids.

Why?

The Mean Reds

I think it might be the effect of living in Asia for an extended period of time. I have spent countless hours exploring drugstores in other countries – looking for things labelled in English, trying new products that I don’t know how to use and being either utterly delighted or not impressed at all with the results. I think that I’ve always liked drug stores in general, but being away from the familiarity of the ones at home made me aware of my appreciation for them. They’re like bookstores, for the body.

“Nothing very bad could happen to you there.”

Pete never really ‘got’ my fascination with these places on the road and now that we’re back in Toronto, he still doesn’t get it but knows enough to go stand by the magazine racks and wait patiently until I have finished picking out new shampoo. Even in Australia (where it’s called ‘the chemist’), and everything is labelled in English, I still had to examine all of the brands that were new to me and decide whether I liked their packaging, copy, smell etc. My roommate and I once spent roughly two hours picking out deodorant.

*Ahem*

For the record: I’m not an exceptionally ‘girly’ girl. I don’t go shopping very often and do not spend evenings painting my toenails and watching chick flicks (not that there’s anything wrong with that). I just really like drug stores. Their existence makes me feel happy and secure in the knowledge that if I need something mundane yet necessary, that I’ll enjoy going to pick it up.  Now that Shoppers is right up the street from my house, I might actually stick around and give the cat a name.

Do you have a Tiffany’s?