I have a standing appointment every other week with the local Red Cross. I go in, they take my temperature, check my pulse and blood pressure, then they shove a needle into each of my arms. Out of my right arm, they draw blood. They run it through a fancy machine that does some kind of crazy stuff to the blood, then they pump what’s left back into my left arm. I’m really not sure what that machine really does, but the end result is that it separates the platelets from my blood.

I’m told that the platelets I donate could possibly save three lives, though I suppose that could just be Red Cross propaganda. According to Wikipedia, platelets help with the coagulation, or clotting, of the blood where there is injury. According to the Red Cross website, platelets go to patients undergoing chemotherapy or organ transplant and have weakened immune systems.

I donated whole blood for a long time. During college, whenever the bloodmobile would show up on campus each semester, I would sign up to donate. Needles have never bothered me, so I figured, why not? As long as I’m healthy enough to do it, it’s just one of those little things I can do to help people out, right?

Then last year I got a call from someone at the Red Cross. First, she thanked me for being a committed donor for so long. Then she went into her sales pitch about donating platelets. For me it wasn’t a hard sell. But I could see how it could be for some. When you sign up to give platelets, you have to be willing to lie still for more than two hours. That’s a long time to not be able to do so much as scratch your nose. And let me tell you, your nose will itch. Just as soon as they put that second needle in your arm. That also means two hours of no going to the bathroom, which can be a real struggle, especially since they told you to drink an extra 16+ ounces of water the day before to make your veins all fat and juicy. On the plus side, you get to watch a movie. Not that I don’t do that in my free time as it is.

But the movie isn’t the draw for me. Neither is the free parking or the Cheez-Its. It’s still about trying to help people out. I’ll be honest, though, it’s not all fun and games. Sometimes my lips get all tingly when the blood is going out and back in. Not sure what that’s about. It’s not painful or anything, just a strange feeling. Then there’s the fact that I feel completely wiped out for the rest of the day. Again, not painful, just a strange feeling and really uncomfortable until I’m able to sleep it off.

Last time I went in, it seemed like the donation had become a spectator sport. There was a couple there that was intently watching everything that was going on. Thankfully, they weren’t there when the nurse hooked me up to the machine. But they were right over her shoulder as she inserted the needles into some other poor customer. I guess it’s possible they were in some kind of training, but they weren’t wearing the traditional scrubs that every other employee was wearing. No, the guy had on a NASCAR t-shirt. There wasn’t anything identifiable about the woman’s clothes, other than they weren’t scrubs.

Today, I got the new guy. I was not filled with confidence when he stuck the return needle into my left arm and then looked at me and asked permission to get the lady who’s set me up before to come and give it a shot. The needle was in my arm, people. And then she came and it was in the wrong place. So she had to move it around a little. While it was still inside my arm. That part hurt. Once I got started with the donation, he would ask me how I was doing every now and then. I just nodded because I didn’t want him to do anything unnecessary to me.

I’ll be going back in next week to do it all over again. I know, I said I go every other week. But last week something came up and I had to reschedule. So that’s my story. I’m a little out of it. But I may have saved up to three lives today. What’d you do this morning?