Like crack, only not

I had to give my date of birth to purchase Ny*quil.

Ny*quil, y’all.

Not even the GOOD Ny*quil.  The stupid reformulated Ny*quil.  And, AND…the stupid capsules, not even the good eleven million percent alcohol liquid version.

Here’s the ingredient list:  1.) Acetaminophen.  I buy Ty*lenol without giving my date of birth. 2.) Dextromethorphan.  Ditto Robi*tussin.  3.)  Doxylamine succinate.  Ok, not the same antihistamine as Ben*adryl…but still, I buy Ben*adryl without my date of birth.

So what exactly is the need for my date of birth?  The D&C yellow No. 10?  The glycerin?  The gelatin?

I’m not exactly sure why this annoys me so much, except that I look around at everything we CAN buy and smoke, or drink, or ingest with no question.  But I want to buy cold medicine and I have to give my date of birth?  And what IS the age limit?  What if, in a few years, I ask one of my kids to run to the drugstore to buy me some Ny*quil and they are not allowed to buy it because they are not 18?  Seriously?

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.  ~P.J. O’Rourke (or cold medicine, apparently)