"Given adequate vacuuming systems..."

"...The human body can be drained of blood in 8.6 seconds." River Tam, Firefly

My topic today is blood. As in, donating it. Not just slicing your finger open on what appeared to be a harmless sheet of paper and then feeling the keen bite of the gash days later. No, I'm going to stick with blood donation.

I am in NHS (National Honor Society). And every year they host a blood drive in the fall. Being old enough now, I was quite looking forward to being able to help out my community and possibly save a life. Everything was fine and dandy until they reminded us of the weight requirement.

When you donate blood, they draw a pint regardless of height, weight, gender, or any of those fun things. Unfortunately for me, they require that a person be one hundred and ten pounds in order to donate. Guess how much I don't weight? That's right, 110 pounds. My friends however, most being taller and therefore a little heavier than I am, do weigh 110 pounds or more. They won't donate. One hates needles. One is just super squeamish. The third just finds someone using her blood icky. But who cares? Close your eyes when the put in the needle, bring a friend to talk to you so you don't have to see the blood in the bag, don't even think about who's getting that blood. In the end, you're still gonna save a life.

So, my mission today is to get you to at least think about donating blood? Feeling a little selfish? You can sell your plasma. That's right, for money. A little bit of your time can get you some money and the warm and fuzzy feeling you get knowing you're gonna being doing someone a ginormous favor.

I wish I could donate. I'm willing, and I could probably handle missing a pint of blood even if I'm under the required weight. But I can't. So I'm asking you to. Find out when there will be a blood drive in your area, contact your local blood bank, call the hospital. Is an hour of your time a little blood too much to ask in order to save a life? I think not. Just, give it a second thought, that's all I'm asking. For my sake.

-Spencer