I got out 20 minutes early today. Pure Soul was sick, but it didn't matter. Only eight people came in since noon, including the time I was there. From the sounds of it, the center in general is waaaaay over their monthly estimates for donations, though, so in general things are going well.

Mixed Views

After two weeks, I am back at the Blood Center. There is not much else to say, except I have all my hours, I love working with the people who come in, and we are out of pretzels. It is nice to see how many people come in every eight weeks, though I did overhear a part of a conversation that seemed like the man speaking wanted to commercialize the blood bank: something about paying the "regulars" and only having a drive when there is a shortage, hopefully leading to less waste. I can't say I agree. For many people, giving blood is a way to give back to the community, it always seems to be in tight supply, and frankly, if there was a shortage severe enough to warrant a blood drive, it would be too late. Blood is processed pretty quickly, but not fast enough for someone in desperate need of a transfusion to wait for one "hot off the press". Better to have excess - giving blood rarely has long-term negative effects for the donor, and for those for whom that is the case, they're probably not eligible to give blood in the first place.

Happy Talkin'....

It was a very chatty crew today. Not that I'm complaining; I got to see some people I hadn't talked to in a while. There were actually a nice number of donations today: about thirty. The weather is starting to get nicer, so maybe that has something to do with it. (And even though I missed last week, I am very close to my hours requirement.)