#12: Giving Blood

Giving blood is a truly anonymous, kind act for a stranger.  There is a Red Cross Blood Donation Center just a few minutes from my house, so I went there to give blood today.  It was a very easy way to do something nice for someone else.  The phlebotomist (yes, there a technical name for the person who draws your blood) joked that I should count this event as three acts since one pint of blood saves three lives.  However, I will not go easy on myself, and this will just count as one!

My one complaint is the time... I was there for an hour and a half, and only 20 minutes of that time was spent hooked up to the needle and blood bag (don't know the technical name for that one!).  I waited about 45 minutes because today was a very busy day at the donation center.  I had no idea that people just show up to donate blood on an ordinary day.  I have always donated at blood drives that come to a school or office building.  Then there was the always fun interview questions.  My favorite was "is it ok if I register you as a female?" 

As I was finishing, the staff was excited to hear that a reporter from the newspaper was there to take photos and do a story.  I have no idea why today was a newsworthy day at the Red Cross, but I will look in the paper tomorrow and find out.  I did not stick around to see what the reporter was looking to report on. :)