More than you know...

Yesterday's blood drive went very well, almost routine. There was a completely different crew though. Their supervisor was a short Filipino man who Elle, our Greeter and regular there, told me was a no-nonsense, let's get the job done, kind of guy. He actually turned out to be very professional and a little more relaxed than my co-worker made him out to be. One other phlebotomist I remembered from my first blood drive. She was the grouchy one that I gave a hard time to about bringing her lunch instead of getting a subway sandwich like everyone else.

From about 10:30 to noon, the place was packed. A little busier then I had seen before. Every donor chair was taken and we sill had two people waiting for health pre-screening. As we kept track of everyone, we noticed that half of them were walk-ins and the other were people who had made appointments.

When things slowed down and I didn't have to sit with recovering donors, I either worked on my paper or chatted with the Red Cross workers. One of them, a guy about my age, he being a part-time tattoo artist, tried to talk me into getting a tattoo. I should get the Red Cross symbol tattooed somewhere as a memorial to the time with them.

Another day, another pint.

The blood drive I volunteered at today was at the same location as the last time, Pembroke Mall. It was pretty slow today and no one of note or curiosity came in except for a couple dressed in Harley Davidson apparel. For some reason I had an overwhelming feeling that I knew or had met them before. They looked so familiar. It might have been through the Navy when my ship was in the shipyards. In conversation, the husband said something about working there and when the ARC had access to the base, there would be a line out the door of donors. "Back then," he said, "you would get the rest of the day off if you gave blood." I looked at his name tag the greeter gave him but it didn't ring any bells so I didn't mention that I felt like I knew him and his wife.

The day wasn't a total loss. I did get a lot of studying done for an art history quiz coming up. And I wrote down the verbiage in the donor's handbook that specifically mentioned who should and should not give blood since this was a crucial point of argument in my english paper.

Today's blood drive was much better than my first day. Everyone was fairly warm and welcoming. My supervisor for the day was actually friendly and a wealth of knowledge. I think I reminded him of his son. In our conversations, I found out that the chapter that services the south-side of Hampton Roads wasn't established until 1949.

He also showed me their facility in Pembroke Mall that's currently being renovated. Temporarily, they're located in the former S&K Men's Warehouse which isn't a bad thing. Since they're now on the inside of the mall instead of being on the outside - back, they get more walk-ins. Again today I was the canteen volunteer. The greeter was a nice, elderly lady who was a little hard of hearing. I also found out that most of the staff are heavily overworked which might excuse the reception I received the last time I did a blood drive. All of the blood collected today - and every day for that matter, throughout the region, makes its way down to Charlotte, NC to be tested in laboratories wholly owned and operated by the American Red Cross.

Today's last two donors were a tragic story of a father and son who just lost their wife/mother two weeks ago, suddenly and mysteriously. They were there to continue doing what they did as a family - the tradition of donating blood as often as they can.