Man. What a morning.
After going to bed at about half past one, being that it was my birthday party, I woke up at eight. My first thought was, I forgot to take the pill yesterday. And we had sex the night before. Damn. This thought turned out to be true, I had indeed forgotten to take the pill. And it was the first week. Damn.
It is no use trying to sleep when your mind is making up scenarios about who's boss will make the most problems about working less to take care of a baby, where to live if the roommates kick us out, how will we get a mortgage, perhaps Boyfriend will not want to become a father? Yet? So I got out of bed.
Internet research showed that in our modern country you can now get a morning after pill without prescription. Only it was a sunday so only one pharmacy was open, for emergencies, in the center of town, 15 minutes away by bike. I guess I am an emergency. I phoned them. Indeed no prescription was necessary. Good.
On my way to town all kinds of people heading to church. Funny I'm normally never there at that time. Funny what would these people think if they knew where I was going and why? Perhaps not so funny.
At the pharmacy the lady asked were you the one who called? I was. Did the girl ask you if this morning after pill was really necessary? No. So I explained, forgot the pill, had sex the night before. The lady goes away and gets a box. Twelve ninetyfive. Sunday opening at the pharmacy means they don't really open, you ring the bell then they open the first door and next to the second door they have sort of a counter where you can get your stuff. Cash only. I didn't have cash. So I told the lady I'd be back and went to the ATM closest by.
The machine took my card, went through the motions of cash withdrawal, but spit out no money. I wasn't paying attention, didn't see what message if any so I tried again. The machine ate my card. Next, nothing happened. No card. No money. So I called the phone number on the machine and waited for someone to answer. You are next in line. Approximate waiting time is one minute. I made plans to call my boyfriend, make him wait at the machine while they come to get my card out, perhaps send him to the pharmacy? But then after a while the machine asked for my PIN anyway so I hung up. Got an error message instead of money, got my card back after all and went to the next ATM.
Back at the pharmacy the lady asked again how exactly did it go? You forgot your pill when? You do know you should get the emergency contraception preferably within 24 hours of unprotected intercourse? Sure, if I had known earlier I would have come earlier! What am I, stupid? I increase my risk of pregnancy for fun? I refrained from any nasty comments as this lady was probably just being professional and giving me information I might not know about. I collected my pill, and some condoms, and went home. I got to take my pill two and a half hours after waking up. Thank god no feeling sick or any of the other side effects the stuff can have. We'll see how this all ends.
This made me realize I'm glad I live in a place where, even with some minor trouble, it's easy to get emergency contraceptives when you need them. Sure, the lady looked a bit disapproving, but she sold me what I wanted without lecturing me. Imagine you meet one of them American pharmacists who force their beliefs on you and refuse to sell this medication. The Netherlands has its (have their?) bad points but this at least is not one of them.