Another Blood Drive...

[kybearfuzz]

I wish I had paid more attention to the date. I'd have tried to have been out of the office during today's blood drive. There is nothing like the semi-annual reminder that I am not allowed to give.

One of my coworkers named Roy went around after giving, trying to convince others in the office to give. In an office of 100 people, we only had 13 donate, which actually is pretty lame. Figuring now is as good a time as any to let him know, I pulled Roy aside to explain to him why I couldn't give. He took the news of my gayness well. He said he suspected, mostly because of my lack of girl dating and my unusual plethora of male online buddies. I explained that it was why I never asked him to play softball on my team (gay league).

He went on about an episode of The Office about a gay employee. He was pretty much laughing by the end of the conversation. Always a good sign, I think. At least he wont be bugging me about donating next time.

After working a little late, I went to get my Christmas cards printed at Kinko's, visited the comic book shop, and pick up Greek for dinner. And OMG! There are some seriously bearded cute guys at Kinko's!

Comments

[martini-tim.livejournal.com]

We had a blood drive at work today too. Everyone knows I'm gay, but some people did not know about the restrictions on who can give blood, and those people got really angry when I told them why I was not donating. One of them went downstairs and yelled at the nice little old lady at the table where you fill out forms. I was simultaneously proud and embarassed (I supposed I was proud-assed?).

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

LOL.. at least they care :)

It isn't fair and likely isn't going to change any time soon. I would say that the general public would freak if they suspected they'd be getting blood from a gay man.

[queensheba.livejournal.com]

Where is there a Greek restaurant around here? Do you mean Greek to Me, or is there someplace else?

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

It was "Greek to Me" that I hit for dinner. I don't know of any others in the Northern KY area.

When I lived in Kansas City, there were several good Greek restaurants, but for some reason they're not that plentiful here.

[queensheba.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, Greek to Me is great. I just wish they had more than just gyros (I love pastitsio, and you can't really find that anywhere - and it's a bear to make; I just can't do it). It's super-close to our house and Mike loves gyros, so we hit it a lot.

FYI, there's a new place called something like "Gyros and Wings" in Florence, near the Barnes & Noble and Old Navy across from the mall. They sell (duh) gyros and wings. The nice thing about the gyros is that they have a huge variety of them, but the sauce isn't as good as most other places and they're sort of Americanized and not as authentic. But they do have a veggie one with hummus and feta cheese that's really really good.

Confused

[phenryss.livejournal.com]

Wait -- you can't give blood because you are gay???? When did that memo come out?? Please enlighten me. It's a better reason than -- I weigh three hundred pounds, am diabetic and will pass out on your lap if you come near me with a needle, beyotch.

Also, yes, FedEx Kinko's tends to hire gay bears...I should know, I was one for 4 years!!

Hugs-

Re: Confused

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

It's part of the questionnaire that the blood centers ask. I believe the question is something like, "Have you had sex with a man, even one time, since 1977?"

They go on with questions about having sex for drugs or money. The questions are used to defer donors who are at higher risk of having HIV. Donors who answer yes to any of those questions are permanently deferred.

And Kinko's has great hiring practices as far as I'm concerned :D

Re: Confused

[phenryss.livejournal.com]

hmmmm...sounds wrong to me, but hey...

I have never liked needles and have always used that as my excuse to not give blood. When I have given blood for routine tests, I hate every minute of it. I have to explaine that you can't use a regular needle as my veins are slippery an d you have to use a butterfly to get blood, yada yada...

what evah!

btw...yer woofy....jus' sayin!

Hugs and thanks for the info.

[cincy-dave.livejournal.com]

Yes, the blood drive thing pisses me off.
This rule needs to change.


And you picked up a Greek for dinner? You go!
You should pick up an Italian and a German for the weekend. :)

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

The rule pisses me off too. I have safe sex and routinely get tested for HIV and cannot donate, yet some womanizing man-ho who can't even spell the word "condom" can waltz in and give freely. It's tough, especially when you hear about blood donations being low.

... ooh.. Italian for the weekend would be GREAT :D

[mat-t.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Blood drives. They have them every two or three months at work and half the department gives. They don't ask me why I don't anymore, they're just used to it. Back in my first year at this job, I didn't feel that I could come out. So of course I got made blood drive captain. I ended up giving blood (because I couldn't think of a reason to tell people why I couldn't) and I lied on the questionaire. I did almost pass out during the process, so I used that as a reason why I didn't give the next time. They assume that's why still.... Bah.

[kybearfuzz.livejournal.com]

A couple of my coworkers apparently stated that they had false positives for certain tests they give (not necessarily HIV testing) and that can sometimes get a person permanently deffered. I thought about using that excuse too.