Vampires: North vs South

I gave blood today. There are some similarities and differences between Canada and the US.

What's the same? A gazillion questions about sex, a prick on the finger to test iron, and lying down with a needle in your arm.

What's different? A fair bit.

In Canada, blood drives at high schools and universities have an entire half-gym full of the donation "beds". This drive at UNC had 12, if I remember correctly.

In Canada, you don't need to schedule an appointment, unless you're donating at the Red Cross itself. Blood drives are first-come first-served, and the wait isn't that bad because there's so many beds. Here there's just as much wait, even with an appointment.

In Canada, they have a little rocker thing that rocks the blood. They don't here. I have no idea whether having those little rocker things is an advantage, but it's a difference.

In Canada, we got stress balls to squeeze. Here they give you a bicycle handle. Stress balls are more fun to squeeze, but bicycle handles work fine.

The biggest difference is the "loot".

In Canada we got a red, drop-shaped sticker saying we donated. If it was our first time, we got a second sticker that said so. I can't remember any other special items for first time donors, but there may have been something. After donating, we got juice/pop and a plain cake doughnut. Yum. :) On about your 5th or 10th donation you get a pin (I can't remember which), and another one at 25.

Here's where some of the American Red Cross pennies go: A sticker with a number (very logical), juice/pop and a vending machine style snack, a red rubber bracelet, a ribbon magnet, a t-shirt (XL), and, for first time donors, an insulated lunch bag. Oh... and a raffle ticket for four round trip domestic tickets on Delta. (Hmmm... if I win, will my folks drive down to Grand Forks to pick me up?) Now, I don't know if the Red Cross, per se, paid for all the loot, or if it was donated by various companies (ie Delta) and the University, but that *is* money that could have been spent on disaster victims, rather than on loot.

Kelli tells me they spend less on bribery if you donate directly at a Red Cross center, but I have no car, so getting there is a pain in the butt.