Growing up I had a steady stream of public service projects through school, Scouts, etc.

In not being in school anymore nor active in Scouting I've less of a structure to do good, aside day to day stuff ("Do a good turn daily" as the Scouts say), but I do make an effort when and where possible, ideally every 59 days, to donnate blood.

It's really not that bad to get poked, and cheesy as it sounds, save a life.

Plus the canteen is loaded with cookies etc., including Girl Scout wares depending on the season. You usually get a t-shirt and they frequently have prize drawings as well.

Baring legit medical reasons (medical history, tattoos, countries or origin or visted, etc.), taking the time should be the only thing stopping you.

Depending on capacity, if there's other donnors ahead of you, and how fast you fill the bag, it's about an hour or two from start to finish.

If you already have, awesome. Keep it up. If you haven't, do it to it.

Public service minute up.

:

(Idle thought: doing a drive at next year's BAM?)

 

I used to donate blood all the time with my dad. I stopped for a while due to a medication I was taking but I need to start going again. Its very easy to do.

 

i was a regular donor a few years back at the local redcross in pleasanton. Though it felt good to know that it was for a good cause, after about a year of going there every 8 weeks or so, i started feeling that they were sort of pushy. before i even donated blood for the appointment, they are already asking about setting up for the next appointment (probably their job to do so).

then i went less and less due to kids, etc. i started getting calls from redcross every day to ask about donation. they would call my home phone and cell phone everyday, and sometimes three times a day. it started becoming a chore to go.

i understand that it's for a good cause and that i may need a blood transfusion one day but their tactics wore me out and i have not gone back to donate.

i would like to go back to donate blood but not be bantered with having to go there every 8 weeks and with phone calls every day bugging me.

 

haha the last time i donated to bloodsource, i passed out while they were doing it. I went home for the day, and ate my pint of ice cream lol

 

I used to get badgered a bit, and actually started going regularly after I got a call out of the blue from the ARC, but it's nigh non-existant these days. Maybe because I give so often?

If nothing else one can block the number (it's a 1-800 of some kind IIRC), and keep on giving as time permits. Remote drives are useful too as they come up.

 

A lot of my friends do that or can't even fill the bag all the way, it's surprising.

I used to work at a Baskin Robbins and saw a fair share of those pint for a pint coupons

 

Amen!

 

I this a donation station at BAM is a smashing idea. I cant donate med reasons so I make my wife do it twice as often. She learned my game and started getting more tattoos.

 

I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.

 

I used to donate all the time through work because they do it every few months, but then I left the company and stopped doing it. I am actually back at this company now after ~9 years and I will start doing it again.

 

Some of those nurses suck at sticking. I used to in high school for free ice cream and such but knowing I need my blood if I go to a call. I have resisted in the last few years.

But I did find out I'm blood type AB+ though.

 

Yeah I worked at a Baskin Robbins in high school too and saw a ton of those coupons come through our store. I think I still have the coupons I got from donating. I never used them because I was so sick of ice cream at the time.

The only time Ive ever had any pain was when a nurse didnt hit the vein and started moving the needle around in my arm looking for it. Still couldnt get it so she switched arms. My right arm was sore after that.

 

Good to know there's support! Will it result in a spike of pre-BAM tats though...?


Purity of Essence! Peace on Earth!


Bravo!


The quality does vary. I've big veins, and even a small scar where they've drawn from so many times, but I've had friends get stuck 3-4 times before hitting oil.

There's a real good tech at the Newark Red Cross that I regularly go to, a Chinese lady named Wendy. You don't feel a thing in or out aside a slight sensation, and she chides the others for using the pen to draw the "vector line" - don't need it if you know what you're doing she says

 

I am A+ and CMV negative so my blood can be used for infants (previously, have to be checked again). Have had a few tats since then so not sure if that disqualifies me now, but the tats are years old at this point.

 

I once got stuck by a nurse so many times I lost count. I finally had to tell her to go get the doctor or else I'd jam that needle in her eye. The doctor got it the first time around.

Fairly certain I'm disqualified from donating. GF on the other hand donates every few months.