I'm A Good Person

I have a big hole in my arm. Hurrah!

I gave blood today, apparently saving three lives in the process, supposing that I don't have AIDS, Hep, or Malaria. Then I just wasted a morning jabbing a needle in my left arm and then eating cookies.

What am I saying? Cookies are never a waste.

Neither is cake.

(That was for Dad. The rest of you probably don't get it, and I really don't care.)

This morning, I went up to my freshman-now-sophomore, Emily, and said, "I may not be in class today!"

"Why?"

So, I quote the blood drive slogan. "I'm giving the gift of life!"

"Errr....is this a roundabout way of telling me that you're pregnant."

Note to self: Write letter to Red Cross telling them to rethink blood drive slogan.

So, anyway. My appointment was set for 8:45, but they told us to be there 15 minutes early. Why is this? So that we could wait and freak out longer.

Rachel and I decided to do our good deed at the same time, so we signed up for the same time slot. After vigorous questioning such as-

"Do you have [disease I can't pronounce which melts your brain]?"

Nope.

"Are you a prostitute?"

Not that I know of....

"Do you have AIDS?"

I really hope not.

Also, the nice lady informed me that if I fly through Ciudad del Este (butchering the name in the process) on my way to Paraguay, I should be wary because it's a Malaria danger zone. 

Thank you, lady.

Rachel and I got out of there at around the same time, and were placed on the gurney things at about the same time at adjacent stations. This would have been nice, as we were in talking distance, but the music was blaring so I couldn't hear anything that far away.

It also struck me as ironic that they were blaring music in the library. Mr.Tuel looked about ready to have a coronary.

So, Rachel starts freaking out when they get ready to stick her, so she calls our Sr.Soc teacher, whom she's really close to, to come over and sit with her while they stick her. When they are getting ready to stick me, I feel a little queasy, and so the guy stops. I assure him that it's just nerves and that he should go ahead and just stick me. But no. He undoes the BP cuff and calls his supervisor.

"She's not pale, just nervous. Stick her."

See, I could have told you that? And you wouldn't have had to tack on those extra ten minutes to the hour and a half that I've been here.

So, he puts the iodine on my arm, and I think of one thing to tell him, which is not to tell me when he puts the needle in, because it will freak me out, which I am a little bit already. A girl from my Spanish class, Danielle, goes, "Rebecca, tell me about your Sr.Soc paper, and don't think about the needle." So she talked to me through the whole thing, even though she finished donating blood about two minutes into them draining my blood. It was really nice of her.

And I didn't pass out!

P.S. The needles are hugenormous.

Also, I have a cool lime green wrap bandaid. It adds to my outfit.

Even though we got stuck within seconds of each other, I got done with my donation about three minutes before Rachel. Because I have blood like the Flash and her's is wimpy. Anyway, I hung with her until she got done, and asked her how she was doing. "Great!", she says, marveling at the fact that she didn't pass out. And then she stands up. And immediately sits back down in the relaxation and snack corner. We ate some cookies and drank some Pepsi, and then Rachel, looking very pale, needed to go down the hall. The supervisor made sure that someone went with her, which was probably a good thing because the next time I saw her was coming in through the side door in a wheelchair being pushed by a nurse.

She apparently passed out on the way out of the restroom. So, they sat her back down, made her eat some chocolate, and she passed out again. After a few minutes, she insisted on going back to class, and the grudgingly let her, but only if someone went with her. We're in the same class, so I went. I went back and got her bookbag and stuff, which I'm pretty sure blew the "no-heavy-lifiting" rule out of the water, and then she went home, skipping out on her placement for the day, which is unfortunate as today is our last day in the placement. (See my tears? Really. I'm so sad to leave my middle schoolers....or something.) So, being the good friend that I am, I called our Teacher Academy teacher for her and dropped in on her mentor teacher to let them know that she wouldn't be in today.

As for me, I'm slightly woozy and was a little nauseous earlier, but overall, I'm okay. I have an audition at three o'clock for Pillow Talk and then a reception at Kent State for admitted students. Hooray!

And I didn't pass out.