Vampire Bureaucracy

I’ve had a rant bouncing around in my head for most of the afternoon, but frankly it’s hot and I don’t want to spend my energy ranting. As I’m sure you don’t want to spend your time reading it anyway.

In a nutshell, I’m annoyed at the ineptitude of the American Red Cross.

The local chapter of the ARC set up in my gym today begging for donations. (“Give Blood Today! National Shortage!”) After my workout, I duly presented myself.

They asked if I had an appointment.

*Really?*

Then they told me I could wait if I wanted, but they would take virtually anyone else before me. And they had no appointments available for the next three hours. I gave them 40 minutes to ignore me, then I took my pint of A Neg and went about my business. I wasn’t the only one. (Well, I’m not sure how many others were A Negative. . .)

Memo to the Vampire Bureaucracy: Please don’t beg for my donation, then turn me away because you can’t get organized. When you set up in a high-traffic area patronized by health-conscious people, you should expect some of them to want to donate.

EDIT:  I forwarded this post to the ARC, and on 8/2 I received a response.  They sent a nice email apologizing for not treating me well, and the CEO for Blood Services in the MA Region included his phone number if I’d like to talk to him directly.  I’ve been on vacation and have not taken the time to call yet.