It had been two or three years since I donated my blood to the blood bank. Life Source would call our house every few months, but for a while I declined, telling them my blood was more valuable in my own body right now, “I might be pregnant,” “I’m pregnant,” “I’m nursing a baby.” But this January I agreed to go in and give some blood. When the nurse came over to unhook me from the line, she held up a full pint of my blood and announced that I had saved three people today. My ever-wary internal critic and orthodoxy monitor corrected this information inside my head, “She’s not quite accurate, Jessica. Nobody saves people except for Jesus, you are just helping prolong people’s lives.”
The whole process of giving blood is quite strange. Any other time a pint of blood flows out of your body, it would be a first aid situation, an accident, an emergency, a trauma. But in the Life Source facility, you look around the room at 3-4 other people calmly sitting on lounge chairs, reading a book or watching TV while blood is draining out of their body.
Of course this is because we know and trust that after adequate replenishment of fluids and nutrients by drinking a lot of apple juices and eating animal crackers, and taking it easy for a few hours, our blood supply will replenish itself and fill back up to the right amount. No harm done.
And we get something in return! A heart-shaped sticker to wear that reminds people that we deserve to be treated nicely today since we did such a virtuous deed. The satisfaction of undergoing a three page exam about our travel and health and sexual history and knowing our blood has been declared to be pure and untainted. The free treats afterwards. When I was 18 I once got a coupon for a free Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream as a “thank you” for giving blood. That was the best. I went straight to Walt’s Food Center to get a pint of Chocolate Fudge Brownie and ate the whole thing myself while hanging around with friends that evening. I deserved it! After all, hadn’t I given away a pint of my own blood and saved three lives?
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