The closing of Vancouver’s last Hi-School Pharmacy is disconcerting to those of us who’ve lived here for years. But the real story must not be missed. Hi-School was a place where friendly clerks who knew their merchandise were glad to help. And they carried nearly everything. That stands in sharp contrast to Vancouver’s shopping world today: Fred Meyer has hired hands checking your receipt on leaving — guilty until proven innocent. Fewer checkers, more self-checkout. And stockers clogging the aisles during shopping hours. Target locks up everything from toothpaste to aspirin to soap. We all go along because we need the stuff and we’re in a hurry. Annoyances. Slippery slopes. What’s next? Frisking?

I’m sorry we’ve come to the point where theft has made these things a thing. And I long for the days, not so long ago, when happy Hi-School clerks directed you to unlocked shelves, checked you out themselves and didn’t make you prove you are not a shoplifter.