In addition to the tee shirt, you could get free beverages and cookies.
All that you had to give in return was a bag of bodily fluid.
An interesting assortment of people goes to the blood drive. A lot of the donors are old, and when I consider someone old, that person is old. Maybe it is because the questions screen out so many of the young--had a tattoo in the last year, or a piercing, they do not want your blood. And if you do not answer about 50 other questions with an appropriate answer, they do not want your blood.By the way, the cookies for the blood drives held at St. Luke's Lutheran Church are always better than those at the K of C Hall. However, most of the time there is no tee shirt offered.
i had never been deferred for any reason in my entire adult life, although i'm disqualified for a while now because i went to a resort area in mexico that is on the no-no list for whatever reason. (pre-swine flu.) so i'm not eligible again until next february, but at that point i may just call it quits. i know they need blood, and i don't need to get paid for it, unlike those who "donate" plasma. (i mock anyone who thinks they're donating it. if they're paying you for your time, as my buddy contends, then why don't they pay you if you come in and they have to reject you?)
ReplyDeleteanyway, i've done more than my share, and while memorial blood centers here in MN are pretty good to you, they've given me enough little reasons that collectively i no longer want to jump through the hoops. i was even giving platelets instead of whole blood prior to mexico....which takes a lot longer. i'll feel a bit guilty if i don't do it again, but sometimes you have to do what's best for No. 1.
In reply to 30-year refugee -
ReplyDeleteYes all the questions and pickiness of donating blood can be exasperating but on the other hand would you want to receive blood that wasn't meticulously screened?
As for looking out for #1, donating will help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels plus the knowledge that you are helping people should be reason enough to donate.
Happy to be able to donate.