My Elder Asked Me to Look Into Linlin Pharmacy's Taipei Branch, So I Started With a List of Questions
My elder called up from down south, saying a neighbor had recommended something and asking me to find time to go ask about it at Linlin Pharmacy's Taipei branch. On the phone he was vague, only saying "that thing for the joints" and "they talk about it on TV." I pressed him three times before he finally said the box was green and had huangqi and danggui written on it. After hanging up, I sat at my desk in my rented room, and my first thought wasn't to head out the door—it was to open my notebook and write down "what exactly am I going to ask."
I later realized that with this kind of errand, the scariest part isn't not being able to find the store—it's getting there and discovering you have no idea what to ask. My elder's needs actually break down into three layers: the first is confirming whether the thing the neighbor mentioned is even a health food; the...