How Do You Spell Relief?

Remember that advertising slogan from years ago? The TV ads from the 1970's always had a person asking, "How do you spell relief?" and the answer was: "R-O-L-A-I-D-S". Right up front I'll tell you that this has nothing to do with the title of this blog. It is just something that has been bothering me all year. 

On January 15, 2010 in consultation with the FDA. Rolaids initiated a recall following an investigation of consumer reports of an unusual moldy, musty, or mildew-like odor that, in a small number of cases, was associated with temporary and non-serious gastrointestinal events. These events included nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, or diarrhea. Hey! That's the reason I took Rolaids in the first place!

I have been using Rolaids for as long as I can remember. Of course you don't usually need that relief when you are in your teens or early 20's. Only when you age enough to realize that life is not as easy as it was when you were in school and playing with your toy trucks. Once you start living on your own and paying the bills then you may need their help. 

So, one day earlier in the year I went to the store to get another bottle of their tablets and noticed that the labeled shelves where they were always stocked were empty. No Rolaids. I thought that was odd that they sold out and didn't restock but I left and thought no more about it. When I went to a different store that day they also had empty shelves where the Rolaids were normally stocked. Now I was starting to get puzzled. Two different drug stores sold completely out of Rolaids? Odd. So I went to the catch-all store, Walmart. One look at their shelves and I noticed they were also void of the product. And I need to point out that every store that I went to searching for Rolaids had plenty of Tums. But there in lies the problem. I hate Tums. Always have, always will. They don't even come close to providing the relief I get from using Rolaids. Almost instant relief with Rolaids and it takes longer with Tums and I usually have to take two Tums to get the same relief from just one Rolaid tablet. Oh, and Tums tastes like crap. 

So at that point I went home, jumped on the computer and searched for Rolaids. That's when I found out about the recall. Not from the newspapers or magazines or television. No wonder they'll be gone soon. But that's another story, I digress. Back to my tale.

There was no mention about how long the product would be off the shelves from Rolaids' website. And believe me, I search for them every time I am at any store that might sell them. So after almost one year I finally called their offices today and asked when or if they would be back in production. 

The kind lady explained that she did not know when they would resume production but it was expected to be sometime in early 2011. Fine with me. At least they were going to start making them again. And the fact that they were recalled doesn't bother me one bit. Look at the tons of products that are recalled every day. Some because of a problem with manufacturing and some because they are simply being cautious after someone complained. I can be patient. I will try to make it as best I can without the help of those tasty tablets. I may be forced to use a couple of Tums once in a while but I won't like it. And the minute Rolaids are back in stores I will make sure I stock pile a few cases. And I won't have to waste my time searching stores because I am now on the company's notification list and will be instantly emailed once they are up and running! What a relief that will be........