The Aerie
Well here I am again, typing one-handed while bleeding from my left arm. I'm at the Red Cross again this morning, donating "clotting factor" cells. I've been donating regularly since 9/11, and moved from whole blood to apheresis pretty early on. See, the world is divided up into three kinds of people...
First there are people who don't donate at all. There are three reasons for not donating: you could have had one of several diseases, or lived too long in certain foreign countries, or you could be a heroin addict who has paid money for sex with a boy from Africa who has a dura matter brain covering.
Aside from those reasons, however, there is no reason not to be a blood donor.
Blood donors then are divided into two distinct groups - apheresis donors and whole blood donors.
Whole blood donors are heroic figures, of course. In the clinic they can be found sprawled on rickety cots, their blood collecting dark bags while they stare at the ceiling tiles, eventually staggering forth after a few minutes pale and dazed. These are the noble yeomen of blood donation.
The final category of people, a small, dare I say 'elite' group, are we the Apheresis donors. Where whole blood donors are in and out of the clinic in a few minutes, we Apheresis donors stay for hours at a time. Our blood is removed, spun in a centrifuge to separate out the precious, precious clotting cells, and then the mundane red cells are returned. And where whole blood donors receive only one needle, apheresis donors are offered two, one in each arm.
Truly we are an exceptional class of people.
For providing this service we are treated like royalty: like royalty we recline in mighty thrones of naugahide and wood, draped in luxurious blankets and heating pads; we are brought high-calcium sweets at the merest request; abundant entertainments are provided to us; and since our arms are immobilized, a staff of trained college professionals, people with advanced degrees, will if asked scratch our noses for us, or any other bit we request.
So, yes, there are three kinds of people. The Exalted, the High, the Apheresis donors... The Heroes, the Foot Soldiers, the Whole Blood Donors... And those whose health or location prevent them from being able to donate..
What kind of person are you?