| My quest for
snake oil began in a remote sporting good shop in rural North Carolina
where I stopped looking for some fishing lures. While there, I ask if they
carried any snake oil. The owner said I might be able to get it up the
road a piece at the Ace Hardware. I thanked him as I left the store with
my fishing lures. Driving into the Ace parking lot I notice the store was
closed. So I walked up to the door to see their hours of business. After
returning to my car a young man tapped on my window and asked if I needed
something from the store. I told him I was looking for snake oil. He said
"What are you going to do with that." I said it was a pain reliever for
joint pain. He recommends trying the Drug Store in town.
 The
next day after touring the Biltmore Estate, the onetime home of George
Vanderbilt in Asheville, NC; I went to find a restaurant for dinner. Across
the street from the parking garage was a General Store. Upon entering the
store it look like they had almost everything imaginable. Thinking this
may be a good place to try and find snake oil, I walk up to the counter
across from the old fashion candy and proceed to ask one of the two sales
clerks if they had any snake oil. The clerk looked at me with a blank stare,
and then slowly turns to her associate who was trying very hard to ignore
the conversation, and then ask if she ever heard of snake oil and would
the store carry it. The clerk's reply was a terse No! The first clerk looked
back at me and asks what is it used for, I explained it was use to relieve
joint pain.
After a thoughtful moment,
she came around the counter and said over her shoulder follow me there
may be some on the shelf; we were two isles down and looking at shelves
with rows of lip balm, suntan lotion, and hand cream and so on. I notice
in a corner of the shelf, on the bottom, near the floor was an old fashion
looking bottle containing a brown liquid. Bending down and picking up the
bottle I began to read the label, while it did not contain any pictures
of serpents or great claims of pain relief. It contained the natural ingredients
found in snake oil. I could not believe my luck.
As I was paying for the
bottle, I asked about snake oil to see what kind of response I would get.
The cashier proceeded to tell me the inventor of snake oil was from Asheville
and live just up the street at one time. As I walked toward the door, I
was thinking maybe my friend was not the only one that had gotten the snake
oil. While I did not expect to find snake oil, searching for it was an
adventure and the responses I received when asking people for snake oil
were priceless.
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