One single point too high. It seems insignificant, but to some it can mean everything.

I decided to go and donate blood today. I read somewhere that there is a massive shortage in America and I thought I could do my part. Mind you the fact that I would get paid a whopping $25 didn’t hurt (being unemployed and all…) but really, I just wanted to do my part.

So, I wake up early, eat a high protein meal of eggs and yogurt and headed out the door, with E by my side.

I wont lie, I was shocked when I arrived. I have donated blood before but this was new. Up in Spokane, where I last donated, the building was state of the art. It was all shiny and white and in good repair. This building? It looked like it should be condemned. Now, I don’t want to judge, but it was also full of, what appeared to be, drug addicts. Now, should these people really be giving up their bodily fluids? Really?

I go up to the desk to check in, as I have an appointment. I have to give my name, address, ssn, photo idea (government issued, of course), and mail to prove my address. They take my picture and mark my finger with a black-light marker. The room is packed full of people, standing room only. I cram myself into a corner with my binder full of AIDS bulletins and start to read, waiting for my turn.

I hear my name called and I rush up front, ready to be out of there, and hand over the handy binder. They weigh me, after having me verify my name and last four of my ssn (and checking my picture in my brand new folder). They right my weight down after verifying that I weigh somewhere between 110 and 400 lbs and send me back into the crowded mob.

After about 20 minutes, a short man calls my name and I head towards the back. We file into, what I believe is, the worlds smallest room. I sit down and verify my name and ssn again. The nice man asks if I read the AIDS bulletin, I nod in the affirmative and he asks me to read it again. After explaining how the procedure will work, he takes my temperature, blood pressure and pulse. After recording the numbers he looks up, a little sheepish.

It seems, he says, that my pulse is a little high. Exactly one point above what they accept. See, they accept a temperature up to 100.5, a blood pressure of between 110-150/70-90 and a pulse of 50-100. My stats were a temp of 99.5 blood pressure of 134/98 (very high for me) and a pulse of, wait for it, 101.

So, after spending nearly two hours in a hot sweaty room, waking up early and being weighed I was rejected. meh. What can you do? I figure it is probably a good thing. I had a fever, high blood pressure and a high pulse, obviously my body was telling me not to do this. Maybe I will try again next week.