donate blood, it's good for you.

okay, so this blog, is going in fits and starts. somedays i feel why bother writing at all and i'm not sure if it's because the thoughts haven't concretized or maybe i really have nothing to say, but sometimes i feel- i always have something to say- and then writing it down becomes an untold burden. there is something to processing i guess. i don't want to be a fragment writer forever you know, not unlike being a lonely road forever you know.

well yesterday i donated blood. which i'm told saves 3 peoples lives. and i find myself asking stupid questions like, how? and do they ever run out of blood at a hospital- so like someone comes in and the guy at the front desk says sorry man, we're out of AB neg. you'll have to come back. and then the guy says, but, man, i have like a wound and i'm going to die.

sorry man, he says.

so i donate blood- you have to answer if you've been out of the country and if you've been out of the country for a combined total of 3 months you have to list where. so congratulate me- i have! one week over the limit... it makes me feel sort of lame, like i don't know another language and really i haven't been too many places, as kick ass as they were. i could do more.

one girl came in earlier and she's like, is this going to take long? because i can't be here all day!- and i think come on lady? you're saving 3 non-specified lives. shut the hell up. later mom says, she had a low iron count so she couldn't donate anyway. i find myself laughing. ha! low iron count!

and then an older woman comes in and refuses to take the informational pamphlet, which you must take if you want a number, if you want to fill out the little 39 Q. question sheet, if you want to donate blood. she says something snippy like, it's not changed. it hasn't changed in 15 years!

the worker having been verbally assulted with unwarranted hostility hesitantly gives her her number. she stands there feeling bad for a second and flips through it anyway grumbling about it. i'm like lady, shut the hell up, you're saving three lives already!

also if you're CMV negative that means your blood can go to children. Little babies. you know. and also don't forget afterward you get to pick what colorful wrap your arm gets and you get water and a selection of snack treats... don't forget the sticker! "I donated blood today..." which is way better than the voted sticker because you're like really saving lives with it and not just keeping the democratic system afloat.

they take my temperature and it's 97.2. i'm always running low like that. the woman says, wow, always? even in the summer. yah, i say. hmm. she says. am i freak? am i going to die of a non-specified disease...

did you know that in addition to saving three lives you can also donate plattletes?. those people are hard core. they have, well they're a step above me. because really this is only my second time donating. i make no pretenses to being a 65 gallon donor. and only 30% of first time donors donate again... slackers. i'm already a step ahead! and as my mom and the give-life website remind me it's the right thing to do. whatever! it's my hot body, i'll do what i want!

hey and did you know I'm B+. which is a rare blood type (like 9%, ah yah). makes me feel all special but not as special as those ABneg types. poor bastards.

www.givelife.org

also did you know it's inherited... so i could only be B or O. that's my lot in life. so it'd be kind of a clever way to see if your paternal hunches are right... sort of personal like showing you my nickers- or my eye color. blink. blink.