Charles, Chance and Frankie visit the IDA Pharmacy on Sandwich Street

Frankie, Chance and me with our buddies Miss Hiam and Miss Annette at the drugstore.

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Grandpa James. He's really old. He was the second Canadian to get off Noah's Ark, you know.

 Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing. I look after Chance, too.  He's so newborn he doesn't have a tail. He doesn't even have any teeth. He just drinks chocolate owls' milk in his bottle. He's a handful!

Oh. Wait! Frankie lives with us, too. He's our cousin. Frankie is four. He goes to the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre, just like me!

Our favouritest IDA drug store is on Sandwich Street in Olde Sandwich Towne.

We walk right past the drug store every day. The drug store is where people get drugs. That is why it is called a drug store. Some people say pharmacy, so it is am important store because it has two names.

We get lots of other things at the drug store, too. The nice man from Canada Post puts the flyer in our mail box every week. It's a little newspaper that tells us what's on sale. We can buy baked beans and toilet tissue. We can buy apple juice and soup.

We can go to the walk-in clinic inside the store. Grandpa James can get his flu shot there and get his blood pressure checked, too. Grandpa James says we're lucky to have a pharmacy in our neighbourhood. It's a very important store.

We walk to the drug store for lots of things.

Miss Hiam and Miss Annette have very important jobs. The sick people bring little papers from their doctors and nurse practitioners and Miss Hiam  and Miss Annette takes care of them.They count out the pills and put them in little bottles or in a Qube. They give meds to sick people so they can stay well.

Every week we go to the IDA with Grandpa James to get his meds. They come in a folder called a Qube. The Qube tells Grandpa James what drugs to take and when. The Qube keeps Grandpa James from getting mixed up. He could get sick if he took the wrong pills at the wrong time, you know.

I could be a pharmacist technician one day like Miss Hiam and Miss Annette. I will tell you a secret. I think Mis Hiam and Miss Annette are princesses.

If I want to be a pharmacist technician I have to go to St. Clair College after I graduate from the Scruffy Maple Day Care Centre.  A pharmacist technician is not the same as a drug dealer. Drug dealers don't go to school. They go to prison. 

 I would smile at all the clients and say, "Hello, good citizen. How may I help you, today?" I would take their little papers and count out the pills for them. I can count to a hunnert, in French, too. I'm a good counter. Then Mr. Samir would check them. He's the pharmacist. Mr. Samir is the boss.  He has an important job, you know.

Know what? When we went to the IDA today Miss Hiam and Miss Annette gave us two Qubes. One of them is for Grandpa James but the other one is Frankie, Chance and me! Guess what's in our Qube! Smarties! These are not everyday Smarties that come in the box, you know.

Everyday Smarties come in a blue box. Smarties are yummy and that's one of the four food groups in Canada's Food Guide.

These are very special Smarties. They're medicinal Smarties. We take one four times a day to stay healthy. Growing bear cubs need medicinal Smarties. We take the red ones just before bedtime 'cuz the Smarties song tells us to eat the red ones last.

Did you hear that? Grandpa James is hollering, "Where are my handsome bear cubs? Where are my Sons of Windsor? Where are my Princes of Ontario? That's me! Charles! That's Chance! We're handsome bear cubs. We're Sons of Windsor and Princes of Ontario!

Grandpa James is hollering, "Where's Frankie? Where's my handsome Knight of Knewfoundland and Lord of Labrador?" That's Frankie! He's our handsome bear cub. He's the Knight of Knewfoundland and the Lord of Labrador. Queen Elizabeth knighted him on Facebook. We Facebook with Her Majesty, you know.

I think IDA means I'm Doin' Alright.

We gotta go find Grandpa James so we can get our ears tickled and our noses kissed. This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens. Be kind to friends and neighbours. Do good deeds. Then you can eat Smarties and drink root beer. Oh! Wait! Come over to our house and play with us! We can go to the IDA Pharmacy on Sandwich Street and get medicinal Smarties together! Okay! Over and out!"