saving lives is hot

I'm O- so I give two units of red cells and get saline and the plasma/antibodies back. The guy at the donation site says "make sure you don't drink any alcoholic beverages for 24 hours...but you can have one if you want." He looks back to see if his manager is around and then whispers "you can have two but don't leave the house."
- I can't say I have something as useful as O-, but at least I can still do Power Red donos... though I forget if I'm A or B negative.
  
  You have to be A- or O- to do power red.

Quick way of finding out if your date has any STIs.
- At least last time I donated blood in my country (Canada), you could discretely indicate "do not use" by applying a different sticker to the bag. This was done in case someone got peer pressured into donating but didn't want to reveal something private that would have disqualified them otherwise.
  
  We (India) don't have that, mainly because blood bags don't grow on trees, but there's a question about sleeping eight hours the previous night that always seemed irrelevant. Now that I think about it, it might have been added for this purpose.
  
  Yes but they also test the blood and will call you if they have reason to believe you are positive.
  
  Roughly the same here in Germany
- And/or is a rapist
  
  Or is gay
  
  Are sex offenders forbidden from donating in the US?
  
  Or paid for sex
  
  ... Where do you live that rape DNA has been sequenced any time in the most recent 10 years or so? That's so much raping that could be hand before you get from donating blood.
  Don't be a fuckface just because you rape. Try to cancel it out by donating blood, we use rapist blood just as well as we use a frat bros.
- Not really how this works. Tests take time and they don't test immediately, also they do pool tests, so multiple samples are mixed and tested. So even if they'd find something they couldn't tell you right there, and then again even if they could they would tell you it would be handled so that nobody else could notice.

People are so weird in their obsession with alcohol and getting drunk…
- I felt this way at one time when I was younger. Now I don't give a shit what people want to do with their own bodies.
- I think what you're missing is that getting drunk is very fun.
  
  This is it.
  Some people drink 1 tequila, do a Hangover, and go, "Drinking is bad" smh
  
  Not to me, I’ve never understood that sentiment. I can act as silly as I want without being drunk, and I hate how it turns other people into almost different people. If I wanted to be friends with their drunken selves, I wouldn’t be friends with their sober selves.
- It's fun if you don't overdo it, as long as it's not an obsession and as long as it doesn't interfere with your life. Like all things, moderation is key.
  
  Can be fine if you overdo it
- some people prefer therapy,
  The rest of us just drink until we can't remember why we're stressed.
  Don't knock it till you've tried it.
  
  That sounds like a one way trip to becoming an alcoholic but you do you ig
- It's a joke. It starts off cute and altruistic and then it finishes silly and kind of bad.
  
  I mean I get the structure of the joke, but in this case it’s just kind of sad. I think it’s because it is not SO exaggerated of a thing to do that I could actually envision some people doing this straight up…

...getting black out is cute?
- I mean… dunno about you, but I look my best with that sweet patina of sweat glistening on my forehead, a drop of drool meandering towards my chin, and a hot load in my drawers.
  I may not remember some nights, but I rest easy knowing that I’m a damn fine lookin drunk. Too much booze also makes me smell amazing.
  Oh, and I’m a great drunk cook too. You can absolutely trust me with that knife.
  
  Is that how you got the nickname Half-Pinky-Shit-Pants-Low-Blood-Drunk-Ass-Sally? I always wondered what the subtle inside joke was
- Getting black out together
  
  Some of my fondest memories and best bonding experiences are from getting horrendously drunk with somebody. I'm not sure if it's safe for dating because you need to trust the other person to be a decent human being while drunk, but most people are.
  If it's just the two of you, or you and strangers you'll never meet again, you'll end up with a better bond from this shared experience, because neither person comes off worse than the other if you're both black out.
  Also of course it's not a cute idea? The post is clearly humourous.
- God yeah lemme hold her hair while she yaks up dinner

The last time I gave blood they wiggled the needle in my vein and gave me the wickedest bruise of my life.
- Similar experience. I doubled down by playing volleyball afterwards. The bruise was practically from wrist to shoulder.

I actually did this in my early 20s. Girlfriend at the time got super drunk super fast so I had to stay sober to drive us home.
- You’re not supposed to get drunk at the donations facility.
  
  If I want to mix vodka into the orange juice afterwards that’s my business.
  
  They didn't have a sign posted, so I figured I was safe.
- Driving to a party, smdh
  
  Yeah, this was before Uber existed and the town I lived in at the time had very sketchy and unreliable taxis, non-existent public transit.

Me suspecting my date is actually an Aedes spp. mosquito:
"heeeey so how about after this drink we hit the blood bank? You know, just the two of us and a lot, and I do mean a lot, of blood bags? How about that huh?"
- Also works with vampires...

The whole time I donate I think about the person who pays for it on the other end.

Staring in the face of late-stage capitalism, the human race tries to find a glimmer of optimism. Can’t afford a real date, find it too hard to connect while sober.

Saving lives is pretty hot, but its a shame they don't let you do this if you're gay or use cannabis.
Edit: this is getting out of hand, I do not live in the US. Happy for y'all that do! Although, overall I'm pretty glad not to be living there.
- If you're talking about the American Red Cross, they have removed most of the explicitly queerphobic rules. They still ask about high risk activities, but in a non gendered way.
  It was kind of insane, though, that 20 years ago I was banned for life for having sucked cock. Turns out I was just boymoding, and as soon as I transitioned cocksucking became just fine for blood donation.
  
  Just discovered these rule changes based on your comment. Unfortunately my partner and I still can't donate blood (they're on PREP, and I was in a vaccine trial that disqualifies me), but it's cool that they've finally eliminated the worst of the queerphobia in the US.
  I experienced the reverse of you - as soon as I transitioned I was disqualified as a trans man who has sex with men, even if the sex was identical pre- and post-transition. These were the previous "updated" rules that were supposed to be less queerphobic, but obviously weren't hitting the mark.
  
  Nope, the world isn't the US.
- WHAT? I've donated blood while high on cannabis.
  
  Same. Hit the vape right before going in. Whoever gets that blood is probably going to fail a drug test.
- Who's barring cannabis users? Red Cross at least only has a problem if your decision-making appears impaired. They don't even ask you to wait between smoking and donating as long as you're thinking clearly enough.
  
  People who take drugs are banned from giving blood in many countries.
- Nah that's not true. Neither part is true. Go out and give blood!
  
  The gay part is true in some countries, even in Europe.
  You have to deny it in a form before you're able to donate
  
  Not where I'm from.

This is how Uni kids get drunk on $4 in 1995.
- It's how we did it for $10 in 2012 as well
  
  This is how we do it for $40 in 2024
- I was in a fraternity (Lambda Chi) and we would donate plasma for kegs. Worked well.
- I get drunk on $5 now
  99's are a beautiful thing

Cool single idea: donate twice as much blood. Drink all the wine coolers yourself.

if you're going this far to get wrecked, just do heroin

Or cold if its 40 below

Yeah but that would enable the prolonging of people's lives. Given how shit life and the world are, I can't engage or support that; it'd unethical for me force people to stay alive. Y'all do what you think is right, but I see it as needless cruelty.
- Er. You think everyone's forced to accept donated blood (I'll agree there's probably some that would have preferred not, but everyone?)? Or is this a whoooooosh moment