Doing Something
September 26, 2001
7:26 a.m.
So I went to give blood yesterday. There were two "beds" there--actually just padded examination slabs to lay down on, but hey, if a nurse wants to call a three-by-six piece of foam rubbered plywood a bed, who am I to argue? I got on the open one. A woman I knew was laid out on the other. Her name is Toni, and her son wrote a story I read and commented on back a few years ago. They rolled up my sleeve and found the vein and iodined the snot out of my inner elbow. A little pinprick later, things were flowing. I always worry about this type of thing, you know? I think they won't hit a vein, or something will go wrong and blood will gush out an all that. It never happens, of course. Except for today. Usually these things happen to me. But today it was Toni who drew the unlucky joker. I didn't see it all, but in the process of moving some things around, the attendant apparently pulled the needle out. And in the surprise of doing it, the attendant also somehow managed to bop Toni right across the eye, apparently making her vision water and all that. The nurse was quite embarrassed, kneeling and trying to clean things up and basically looking like she wanted to dig just the tiniest foxhole post haste. They got everything cleaned up and under control, though. Then nurses used a little gallows humor to get them through it all. Toni got up and went to the bathroom to check her eye. No one was permanently scarred, though Toni had to get stuck in the other arm to draw her final donation. It was all actually quite comical unless you were Toni. Somewhere in there I asked how busy they had been, and she got a look on her face that said that yes, they had been really busy. Too busy, she actually said at one point. "We want everyone to come down, but we don't need them all at once." She then went on to say how it's gotten really pretty quiet recently. When I was done they gave me a little cotton ball to press against my arm, then wrapped me in a big 'ol gauzy bandage that made me look like I was sporting a civil war wound or something. Then they forced me drink some juice and admonished me to not miss any meals. The whole thing took maybe twenty minutes. Did you know blood is only useable for 40 days after it's donated? It's September 26th. That means the glut of blood given September 11th has about 25 days of time left. That means October 21st is the "use by" date. That's not far off, you know? I'll bet you could make an appointment, you think?  Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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