I can’t say I enjoy giving blood, the process is somewhat tedious, and there are quite a few very personal questions to answer each time I give. Have I been outside the U.S. and Canada, have I had dental work recently, have I had sex with a man in the past six months, have I had sex with a woman who has had sex with a homosexual, have I ever had sex for money, have I ever dated a barnyard animal … I mean THAT is none of their business. I realize that they have to ask these questions to ensure that the blood supply is not tainted, but it’s a little strange nonetheless. Who do they think I am, anyway, some world traveling slut? And that cow … that was a one time thing. I can understand asking these questions once, then asking the donor to sign something each subsequent visit acknowledging that nothing had changed. The most absurd thing they do - and they did this in the States as well - is that they ask you to confidentially put a “yes” or a “no” stamp on your blood donation indicating whether or not you want it to be used. Why for heaven’s sake would I DONATE if I didn’t think my blood was safe and didn’t want the blood to be used. No, I want you to stick a needle in my arm and draw an eighth of a gallon of blood, just so you can throw it away. I’m only here for the cookies and juice. Once I’d been through the drill for the first time, it was fairly easy. Now I’ll go whenever I have a chance. I don’t do a lot for the community I live in, so I figure donating a pint of blood is the least I can do. I have a fairly common blood type; I wonder what is more valuable. If a lot of people give blood, I guess it’s the rarer blood types, but I’m not sure a lot of people do give. Other than the questionnaire, it really isn’t hard to do. It’s no more invasive than a blood test, it doesn’t really hurt, and the actual donation doesn’t take very long. Speaking of blood tests, the other day I read that Walgreen’s might soon put out a personal genetic testing kit. Does this mean we will soon be able to check paternity or maternity in the privacy of our own home?
Finally, the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is still very much a problem, and now they’re saying that this one will be much worse than the Exxon spill. The millions of gallons of crude presently spilling out into the Gulf is the consistency of cake batter, and it’s going to be a real mess to clean up. On 60 Minutes last night I watched a very disturbing segment suggesting that BP did not follow all the proper safety measures before allowing the rig to begin pumping. It made me angry to hear a BP spokesman blaming only Transocean, the owner of the rig, for the accident. I didn’t understand all the details, something to do with “mud” used to regulate oil flow from the pipeline, but it looks as if BP overlooked some serious problems in order to get up and running faster. Look at the results! BP is now in the hole for at least $500 Million, and the figure grows daily. Who knows what the environmental impact will be? What really surprised me is that there is apparently a much bigger rig in the Gulf, The Atlantis, which, if it were to fail, will make the Deepwater Horizon spill look like a raindrop. There is some concern that corners were cut in the construction of that rig as well. Perhaps Atlantis is not a good name for something which is supposed to sit on top of the water … didn‘t that city sink?
Maybe windmills aren’t such a bad idea after all.
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2010 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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