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
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?"
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."
It's a requirement at Red Cross but it's just a recommendation at Vitalent- anyone can do anything but they have "ideal" donation types for each blood type.
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…
You’re totally right. I guess I was thinking of it from the angle of people who do things like this on purpose (but in control), not people who have lost control due to addiction or otherwise. Probably because of the “jokey” tone of the post.
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.
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.
Yeah I've noticed there's a divide in the population in which half the people "know what it's like" to get drunk, and it really isn't for them. And they're baffled by people who love to get drunk. It's a different experience. People don't get drunk just "to act as silly as they want", that should be obvious.
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.
The waiting period is required due to these drugs interfering with viral replication and thus possibly altering the detectability of diagnostic and screening tests for HIV, including extending the window period prior to detectable infection or a delay in producing antibodies.
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The Red Cross and the FDA support individuals making responsible choices for their health and the broader health of our communities. The Red Cross and FDA are involved in ongoing research, data collection and assessment related to transfusion safety, including the use of HIV preventative medications, and will continue to seek opportunities that could potentially help lead to additional changes. The Red Cross does not encourage individuals to stop taking these medications in order to donate blood.
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.
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.
I think that has to do with legalization. At least where I live (still illegal recreationally), the street price of weed started to go up until Colorado and Washington legalized it 10 years ago. Then it dropped a lot, now it's the same price as it was back then.
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.
In my country, men are asked the same questions and no one is allowed to give blood if they changed partners in the last 3 months. I imagine it is the same for women.
Unfortunately it applies to gay men only. Our straight counterparts can switch up partners as much as they want.
Well, it’d apply to bisexual men who’ve had male partners as well.
I should also point out it doesn’t have to be new partners. Just if you’ve had more than one partner you can’t donate even if it’s an exclusive polygamous relationship.
In the US, it is an Individual Donor Assessment and applies to everyone. Everyone gets the same question tree, regardless of sexual orientation. If you have had a new partner in the last 3 months or have multiple partners that doesn't defer you, it sends you to the next tier of question: have you engaged in anal sex. Yes to anal with a new partner or multiple partners is the deferral. If you haven't had a new partner or multiple partners in the last 3 months, you will not be asked about anal sex. Canada went live with their individual donor assessment a year before the US and has noted a slight drop in donations in straight donors because they are now being deferred for high risk activity when they were previously missed.
Prep is listed under a medication deferral. First responders that take prep for protection from workplace exposure are deferred as well.
I see what you’re saying but they are specifically worried about anal sex. You’re welcome to switch up partners as much as you want as long as anal sex isn’t involved, which is much more likely and much easier for the heterosexual community.
Same goes with prep. I’m sure that there are circumstances that would have individuals taking it that are not related to their sexual orientation.
I’m just pointing out that despite the major improvement it still excludes gay men quite thoroughly from donating blood.
I was only offering what I knew to be true for my area locally, I didn't want to speak on things I hadn't researched. Looking it up, I guess it seems like it's possible (with varying degrees of waiting period), in a pretty significant chunk of the world, so that's even better than I thought, if still not ideal. ^^
... 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.
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.