Today I went to the Red Cross for my regular appointment to give my pint of blood. I read the same packet of information, signed in, and was soon taken back for processing. Kanisha checked my blood pressure and temperature, checked my iron level, left me to complete the computer checklist, and then deemed me eligible to donate. Soon I was on the gurney and Katrina started the donation process.
At one point, Katrina called over Kamina and asked her to check the labels on the various tubes and bags. Apparently I am A+ and the label listed O or something that was not A+. Kamina assured her it was okay, that the label didn't matter because every so often they needed something back for QC on the machine. In other words, from what I understood (and of course I didn't ask questions, so this could be totally off base), my blood was not going to save someone's life, but for a quality check on some machine in the back.
At first I was a little concerned. I mean, here I was, gladly donating a pint of my blood - but for a person, not a machine. Wasn't this a waste of a life-saving pint of blood?
And then I thought a little more. I don't know what the machine in question was, but it obviously had something to do with the blood donation process. Quality control would be very important, if donated blood were to be used to save a life. And how could quality control be achieved, unless real blood was used? So maybe my blood ultimately saved many lives, because it assured that whatever the machine does for the whole process, that machine was right on target.
I guess the moral of my story is this - sometimes we give thinking that our donation has to be used in a certain way. But in reality, our only job is to give. How our donation is used to help others is best left to those who know what to do. We just have to get the ball rolling and give.
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Today's blessings: sleeping in via Karen's text message; giving blood at Red Cross; Cracker Barrel lunch with Maribeth; Logans dinner with Maribeth and Molly; new camera delivery; packing list; Pinkberry with Lindley
1 comment:
That is what I think when I give money to a homeless person. I shouldn't judge how they use it.
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