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.