On August 2, while I was up in the Cary, NC area (a place I’d lived for about 23 years), I stopped by Ashworth Drugs at 105 W Chatham St, Cary.  This pharmacy has been in downtown Cary, probably since the 1960’s.  Started by Ralph Ashworth and now run by his son Paul.

So why is this post in here?  I first met Paul in Los Angeles in the mid-1980’s.  I was working as a pharmaceutical salesman for Burroughs Wellcome Co.  Paul was hired in North Carolina where he’d been working as a pharmacist in his father’s store.  He requested a territory out west.  We were in the same sales district, district 79.

When I moved to Burroughs Wellcome’s HQ in RTP, NC in 1987, I went to meet his father at the pharmacy.  Several years later, Paul moved back to his hometown.  This is a photo from that day.  When in Cary, this is a place to stop in to see what used to be commonplace in pharmacies – a food counter, with about 8 stools and two booths, serving hot dogs, hamburgers, BBQ sandwiches, sodas.