Born to Shag … Just Who is Silverback Ross?

[Just who is Silverback Ross? We know he sends us funny stuff, but who is the man behind the gorilla (so to speak)? Here’s a look at our funny friend in the Canadian Jungle: SB SM]

But first …

And here is SB Ross’s story, in his own words:

Hello, my name is Ross. I am the Canadian who sends jokes to Stephen so he can have a day off on the weekends from blogging.

My consort Mary and I met Stephen and his wife Sandy in San Miguel Mexico and hit it off well. I talked a little about my life and Stephen wanted me to write a short history around my life as a pharmacist/business owner and my passion for dancing. Sounds very boring so I will try and keep you from falling asleep. When I was in high school, I took typing. I was told I would probably not need this as back in the day, there were stenographers that did this job. How wrong could they be!

I was good in sciences so I entered the University of Toronto (U of T) Canada in 1969 to get my 3-year Bachelor of Science degree. I was told that the world would be my oyster once I graduated as I could work in a government lab or perhaps teach. When I graduated in 1972, I was then told that the only jobs that worked well with my degree was driving cabs. I had to agree with them as I didn’t see any future path forward.

I struggled to figure out my next steps when I came across an interesting 2-year course for Medical Lab technology. I also came across a brochure for pharmacy school at U of T. I didn’t know exactly what a pharmacist did for a living as I had only been to a pharmacy once when I picked up a prescription for my mother from some old guy in a dirty white shirt at the back of a crammed store.

I decided to apply for both courses. The Lab school asked me to attend an interview. When I showed up, there were about 50 young girls from high school having their interviews that day too. I seemed to be the only guy in the room! Yikes!

The interview was interesting once it was established that I was a male with a Bachelor of Science degree. I was told on the spot that I was accepted into the school as they needed males with science backgrounds to run the lab department in hospitals for an income of around $8,000 per year. I would be the supreme ruler over the women in the other room who would do all the work. I accepted their offer but a month later, I received a letter from the school of pharmacy offering a spot in second year of their 4-year program. Because of my marks, I didn’t need any classes from first year nor 90% of second year. I dropped the Medical Lab idea and accepted the pharmacy school invitation.

I apprenticed in a pharmacy to get my license to poison people, then went on to manage a couple of pharmacies. While working for Kmart, I realized that if they could make money, anyone could. I started to look for empty locations for a pharmacy or for a pharmacy for sale.

I came across an ad for a pharmacy for sale on the outer edge of my city. It had been run for 7 years by Boots Pharmacy head office in England. It was a bankrupt pharmacy which is very unusual after that many years. Twelve pharmacy chains and independent pharmacists had looked at the store and refused to make an offer. After visiting the store, I could see several business basics done wrong that I had learned in grade 10! I took a chance and made an offer of $3 for the store. One dollar was for the 30-year lease, one dollar was for the shelving and counters and one dollar for the good will. SOLD!

I was shaking in my boots when I got it but got down to work. I was at the store long hours for the first 7 years to build up the sales. I learned that owning a business is making more right decisions then bad decisions and if you happen to make a bad decision, have a plan B. This led me to the thought that I could hire much better workers than myself. LOL. Since I only needed to work 12 hours per week to maintain my license from age 40 to age 65, I was able to semi-retire. In the meantime, I took up travel and ballroom dancing as a hobby.

During this time, I developed eye cancer. This is a rare cancer that strikes only 400 people in Canada each year. Once detected, there are only two options. Have the eyeball removed or sew a radiated disc on the outside of the eye to kill the cancer. Roughly 200 people have to have their eyeball removed due to the size of the cancer. I was lucky to maintain my eye as I was only 80% of the way to having my eye removed.

At age 65, the mall that the pharmacy was in sold to the largest grocery chain in Canada called Loblaws. They also owned the largest chain of pharmacies in Canada called Shoppers Drug Mart. They decided that the pharmacy chain would buy me out.

[Here’s SB Ross wearing his banana yellow sports coat. He is ready to shag! SB SM]