Blood Day
Blood day might just be my favorite 6 workdays of the year.
Working for Uncle Sam undoubtedly had its perks, and among them, is that every 60 days or so, the American Red Cross sets up one of its mobile phlebotomy labs in my office building (people should only donate whole blood every 8 weeks or so). To be frank, giving blood is not pleasant: it's painful, uncomfortable, and leaves me feeling like I've just finished eight days of carousing without any rehydrating. And while I like to think myself charitable, the federal government (more specifically, the federal government via the negotiation process with my labor union) provide me with an extra incentive: I get paid leave for my actual donation time, along with up to three hours of recovery time. Which means, give blood after lunch, and take the rest of the day off.
Today, dear friends, is blood day. So it's a morning of serving the American people, then off to helping the American blood recipient, followed by an afternoon of slackery.
And hey, save a life, give blood. And don't bother me with your excuses, I haven't the time for them, and neither do the people on the operating tables.
Working for Uncle Sam undoubtedly had its perks, and among them, is that every 60 days or so, the American Red Cross sets up one of its mobile phlebotomy labs in my office building (people should only donate whole blood every 8 weeks or so). To be frank, giving blood is not pleasant: it's painful, uncomfortable, and leaves me feeling like I've just finished eight days of carousing without any rehydrating. And while I like to think myself charitable, the federal government (more specifically, the federal government via the negotiation process with my labor union) provide me with an extra incentive: I get paid leave for my actual donation time, along with up to three hours of recovery time. Which means, give blood after lunch, and take the rest of the day off.
Today, dear friends, is blood day. So it's a morning of serving the American people, then off to helping the American blood recipient, followed by an afternoon of slackery.
And hey, save a life, give blood. And don't bother me with your excuses, I haven't the time for them, and neither do the people on the operating tables.
posted by Jason at 08:20
9 Comments:
You forgot to include "sound of man ascending soapbox" before the final paragraph. You've just admitted that you get a sweetheart deal out of this and the the Red Cross comes to your place of work, and then you get all preachy at people who don't have the same perks. A mile in their shoes, perhaps?
Centerleft, you of all people...I can guarantee that the Red Cross comes to your campus every eight weeks, and you DO have the time. I might be sympathetic to an office worker (especialy one with a family) who needs to take time off and drive to an out of the way place - but walking around in your shoes ain't that hard to imagine.
And of course I was being preachy, I was hoping that guilt might inspire someone. People die because people don't give blood, and the most common excuse I hear from people is that "it hurts" or "it makes me feel bad." That's lame - and when big government liberals use that excuse, it's worse than lame, it's hypocritical.
And yes, it's easier for me, but that doens't make my point any less valid.
Hey, I didn't even say we were talking about me. For all you know I give blood thrice daily and employ vampirism to regain it. And besides, your oafishly large feet wouldn't fit in my shoes.
Guilt is all fine and good, as while you were away I used shameless guilt-pandering for my ALS fundraising drive. I'm fairly convinced though that posting the Red Crosses nationwide number or a link to their web site might have been a more effective tactic. Spurring people to charity requires more hand-holding than ass-kicking.
You are getting me feeling guilty. I think it's really important to give blood, but I've fainted and they've not let me BEFORE I've even sat down. I have serious issues with giving away my blood, as I think I need all of it. I know it will regenerate. I am getting tingly just thinking about this...bonk.
After I got a tattoo, no blood for a year or something nuts like that. And after I had lyme disease, 18 months. But, prior to your post, I was already scheduled to give at our high school's blood drive next week. And if you're interested, look into pheresis donations. You can do this every week. You sit in a chair with a needle in each arm. Blood goes out one arm, into a fancy machine that seperates the platelets from the red blood cells. It keeps the white blood cells and puts the red back in. And those white blood cells go to patients receiving chemo, and such, who can't make their own. I've done this in several states, and at every donation center they put you in a wonderfully comfortable reclining chair, set you up with a movie and headphones, and away you go.
Any takers?
I sold a lot of plasma, to make drinking money in my younger days, with the same "spin" macine Hamel is referring to. I rejected at my last blood-donation atttempt ten years ago because I got faint after they inserted the needle. Should I try again?
Gas Guy, I would give it another shot. My basic advice - bring something to read, or even a portable electronic audio device and try your best to distract yourself from what's going on. However, I will say the more that you give the easier it gets. In addition, I fudge the data on how long I've been in Western Europe because it's silly and extremely arbitrary (a lot of the questions are homophobic, as well - while gay men are more likely to have HIV than a straight man, monogomous gay men cannot give, but straight guys who regularly engage in unprotected sex can?)
I did have a link as well, Centerleft.
As for donating plasma, I've been asked to do it but haven't gotten my crap together. Frankly, I've also meant to get on the bone marrow list as well, but haven't found the motivation. No time like the present, let's see if I can make that happen.
Didn't notice the link. My bad. However, it didn't work, either. Kept timing out when the rest of my surfing is going just fine. Could be that the Red Cross is updating their site, or experiencing unusually high trafffic, due, no doubt, directly to this post.
I'll have to check out bone marrow donation as well. What disease does that principally help correct, again?
Centerleft: bone marrow donors typically aid Leukemia victims. And it's http://www.marrow.org/
As for blood , it's http://www.givelife.org/ - or just use the hyperlinks.
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