Blood Donation

I went to donate blood at Gaithersburg, MD center this Sat. I was not greeted with, “Hi, Good morning, Thank you for coming here”. Instead, I smiled and try to be nice. “Get a number and sign in”, I was told. After sitting for a while, A nurse came and took me in a room for registration. I had a water bottle in hand and she told me I must leave it out side the room. She did not say it nicely or with any good explanation. Again, I smiled to fit in.

After few minutes, She needed to leave the room so she pretty much slammed the door while I was sitting in a chair about six inches from the door frame.

The room was freezing cold. Most of the donors were shivering since we came in shorts and short sleeves when it is 80 degrees outside.

The token “thank you” shirt was not there for me to get one.

I have been to this center few times. The leader, Peru, was the kindest and nicest guy. He has always been courteous and knowledgeable.

On the up side, there is a happy ending. I usually spend 30 minutes donating blood. I often had to endure comments like, “I do not think you can do it”, “Your veins are too small”, “I need someone else to do this“. I often had to say, ”Yes, there is blood in there”. This nurse knew how to do it right. It took me about 10 minutes this time. (Can all nurses be trained so they know what to do)?