Blood on Halloween

I gave blood today for the third time in my life. A local radio station was promoting its Tenth Annual Hemogoblin Halloween blood drive (clever that), and I stopped in after work since it was pretty much right down the road from my place.

The first time I gave blood was not a pleasant experience. It was when I was working in Dallas, and every year they brought the big bus to our parking lot and many people took the chance for a decent afternoon break from work. After the extensive screening process, I settled into the chair and they inserted the needle. I didn't really know what to expect, but I realized my reaction was less than optimal when I started getting light-headed. I had never been squeamish around my own blood, having seen it often enough as a teenager with almost daily nosebleeds. I told the nurse I was a little dizzy, and she said I was almost done. Once they pulled the needle out, either they didn't tell me to stop squeezing the ball to make the blood flow or I was too out of it to hear them. Either way, I ended up with a huge bruise on my forearm that took about a month to clear up, turning from dark purple to greenish yellow before fading away. Later that afternoon, I tried taking the stairs a little too quickly, having already forgotten the warnings, and nearly passed out standing upright.

It was a couple of years before I gave blood again, shortly before I was laid off. It might have even been October. I felt like I should give it another try, seeing as how my dad had been giving at least a couple of times a year for most of his life. I have O-negative blood, which I'm told is always in high demand because anybody can receive it, and I figured I just had a rotten first experience. This time, we tried the other arm, and happily I had no bruise or dizziness. Same thing today, and it only took me five minutes to fill the pint bag. I think I should start going back more often, now that I'm signed up in Austin. The biggest reason I hadn't done it since I'd moved down here was the agency I used in Dallas is nowhere to be found. But it's a good cause, and I got a free T-shirt and some cookies. What more could I ask for?