It must get a bit redundant sitting down to two meals every time it’s time to eat.

By that I mean, the meal of pills and tablets that gets consumed prior to the main meal.

There are people out there, not necessarily all older either, who carefully sort out a kaleidoscope of coloured little buttons in front them to throw down their necks.

The Reggies aren’t quite pill poppers just yet. However a bout of flu-like terror seemed to have swept through the household recently.

It was no normal disease as it took hold of this humble builder of immunity and took the voice away over night before leaving a trail of destruction which included a runny nose and considerable phlegm build up.

Some might refer to it as a “man flu”. But rather than head to the local physician with the complaint, I decided a more natural approach would be an option.

Enter: Echinacea.

This seems to be one of those modern natural wonder drugs that has millions of claimed benefits.

The young girl in the chemist, who looked a long way from acquiring any sort of medical degree and more on her way to appearing in a local hair salon commercial, suggested I get the special cold fighting one.

One tablet is to be taken with food, three times a day.

So every meal for the past few weeks has heard the rattle of the green bottle being taken from off the fridge.

Mrs Reggie complained of a “tickle” in her throat, and the automatic response came back: “Get into the Echinacea.”

The flu symptoms seemed to ease, so it became the solution to everything.

Mrs Reggie gets a sniffle- “Get into the Echinacea.”

Mrs Reggie twisted her ankle- “Get into the Echinacea.”

Mrs Reggie burnt herself- “Get into the Echinacea.”

The batteries in the remote went flat- “Get into the Echinacea.”

The share market fell another 5 per cent- “Get into the Echinacea.”

And then the bottle was empty.