I just got back from donating blood. Every time I go they give away more stuff. This time I got a cool T-shirt(they're not always cool), an ARC visor cd holder, and they let me keep the squishy ball you have to squeeze while they drain you. And that doesn't even include the killer selection of snacks and drinks available when you're done.
If you've gone through the process of donating blood lately you'll know what I'm talking about when I say that borrowing money for a house loan was less trouble. It occurred to me that the current shortage of blood in the U.S. is not because Amercans are self-centered and don't care about others until they need something themselves(that may very well be true, but not about blood donation), it's because the exclusion criteria are so sweeping that hardly anybody qualifies to donate. I realize that since AIDS, the ARC has to be very careful about what blood they send to hospitals. I remember donating blood prior to the 80's and they didn't screen for all this other stuff and there was plenty of blood. I understand about AIDS but why be so exclusionary about things that have always been around, even before AIDS? Were these risks worth taking back then but not now? Why? Could it be a combination of an ignorance-based, public, irrational fear of disease risk and a very rational fear of law suits by lawyers like John Edwards?
My wife and I were banished for a year from donating after our spring break trip to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, because there is a slight malaria risk there. I listened to the list of countries they ask you if you been to in the last 10 years and it's all the places Americans like to go. Seriously, the snacks and gifts are excellent, now if they would just relax the exclusion criteria, test the blood, and reform the tort laws, they would have lots more donors I would bet.
9 comments:
Ed,
I know what you mean. I donate everytime I get a chance, usually at least twice per year. I'm well over a gallon donated. Each time I give a silent cheer when I am allowed to donate. A few times I was rejected because of some funky vaccination (small pox, Anthrax) or some exotic location I've recently visited. But generally the ARC folks are nice and relatively efficient given the restraints. My wife hasn't been able to donate for the last 10-15 years becasue she lived in the UK for a while. All part of the mad cow situation.
I guess if it's possible to incubate disease agents for really long periods asymptomatically, then maybe I can understand screening for those specifically, but to exclude nearly every willing donor because of the slimmest of chances they may have at some point in the past decade come in the remote vicinity of a person who may have been casually exposed to the vaccine for a disease is draconion, and causes otherwise healthy donors to not show up at blood drives.
The ARC could have lots of blood if they would slightly relax the exclusionary criteria and tell the tort lawyers to take a hike.
Spoken like a true scientist!
Ed,
I've discovered the root cause of America's decline. It was written in code on a Georgia license plate if you can believe it. Here's the code, the key, the root cause of the decline of the greatest civilization (and empire) in history: W8N4FRI. It should come as no surprise this plate was affixed to a pick-up truck and the driver was a smoker.
I call it "Eureka: A Cynic's Discovery"
America was founded by, and became a superpower because of, men and women who couldn't wait for Mondays and the opportunities that come with work.
Wealth and achievment is usually not earned on the weekends.
The phrase "everybody's working for the weekend" made ubiquitous in the 80's by the band Loverboy, is indicative of the decline in American entrepreneurship, drive, and vision.
When someone comments that it's Friday I always say (with a smile) "Yes, we are one day closer to Monday!" The usually response is a facial expression along the lines of someone smelling a foul odor - probably a fart.
Amazing how you 2 guys went from blood donation to work ethic and didnt miss a beat. Nice stand up routine there boys. Great minds think alike.
I think they called it "free association" in the one ridiculous psych class I took in college.
I'm a "plant" paid by Ed to help create stream of consciousness threads.
Post a Comment