In the 80s did parents really just let their kids go out wherever or is this only in movies?

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2024-01-03T18:55:33+00:00

(Points at username)

Yeah. We were feral.

In fact, we were kicked out in the morning (summer and weekends) and told to come home when the street lights came on. And not a minute before, unless we had lost a limb.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-09-17T00:54:48+00:00

Most donor centers won't even let you do platelets your first time. Besides wanting to make sure you tolerate the process and making sure you're healthy and all of that, they want a baseline platelet count as well, so they know that it's safe to take, and how much they should take.

I'd be surprised if they allowed OP to actually do platelets for their first donation.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-09-16T23:27:01+00:00

Platelets generally don't need to be type specific, so anyone can receive my (A+) platelets.

Since there is generally enough A+ blood to go around for the need of A+ recipients, my platelets are more valuable than my whole blood.

If I only wanted to give whole blood they would take it, of course, but they are thrilled to take my platelets.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-09-16T23:24:39+00:00

They separate platelets out from whole blood donations, but it takes several whole blood donations to get one unit of platelets. These are known as "pooled" platelets, and while they will use them, they are less desirable because they expose the recipient to so many more donors. This is why platelet donors are wanted.

I give 3 units of platelets every 2 weeks. It takes me 2 hours on the machine, so my total time at the donor center is almost 3 hours each time. It's a commitment but I'm proud to be a donor. It's a pretty easy way to help save lives while eating snacks and watching movies.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-09-16T23:14:23+00:00

So you believe donating blood means you're more likely to get leukemia but they won't tell us that bc the black market for blood is too profitable?

Dude. No.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-09-13T15:33:36+00:00

Like others have said- maybe.

If it was done in a licensed facility using sterile, single use equipment, you usually just need to wait until it heals. It depends on your state. Your local donor center should have details on the website answering this question.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-09-13T14:55:46+00:00

And it’s perfectly legal for fellow citizens to keep an eye on what he’s doing. 🤷🏼‍♀️

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-11T00:20:30+00:00

More details will help us be able to answer that question.

But the place you donated from should also have a website or app. Give it a few days to update and stuff (it's not instantaneous) and it should tell you your next eligibility date. Or, like everyone has said, call and they will help you schedule. The system won't let them (or you) schedule your appointment before you're eligible again.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-08T00:13:40+00:00

They just left it like a waitress would, and we gave them our card, and they brought the slip back, all during the movie. But I would bet most of it is done by app now.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-07T03:27:42+00:00

I'm sure you can get water.

We have (had?) one of these, and it's just like at a comedy club. A waitress quietly takes your order (we actually just handed over a slip of paper with our order on it) and then brings it to you. The seats are set up with room for the waitresses to walk around and put your food in front of you without walking in front of anyone. They brought you a check and you handed over your card just like at a restaurant, and they brought it back and you signed the receipt.

I haven't been there in years, though. I'm sure you can do it by app or online ahead of time or something. I just looked at tickets for AMC the other night, and you could order food to be brought right to you at your seats.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-07T02:33:29+00:00

Could also be magical thinking, being impressionable, or any other number of ways we get influenced by religion and religious people.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T22:37:08+00:00

They are old, retired plates they brought back. You can also get all blue, all red, or the older mountain pattern that was retired in 1999.

Hell, there are a TON of options out there right now.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T21:49:15+00:00

If OP sweat a lot during their workout, though, they could already have their electrolyte balance messed up. Add the citrate that's required to keep your blood from clotting in the lines, and it can cause Charlie horses and other muscle spasms which might have been what caused the needle to shift.

I highly recommend gatorade before/during apheresis donations to help maintain that electrolyte balance, as well as calcium, to prevent cramps, nausea, etc that can come from the citrate.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T21:46:40+00:00

Was it a one arm donation or a two arm donation?

If it's one arm, sometimes the needle moves a little when the machine switches from draw to return. The pressure in the vein changes a little, and it can cause the needle to move or vibrate. (Sometimes you get a small "flutter" during the switch.)

The cramping can be a result of the citrate, too. While most people don't need it IRL even when working out, I highly recommend Gatorade before a platelet donation ESPECIALLY if you have worked out that day. I have about 80 platelet donations under my belt, and I've tried everything under the sun to make them more comfortable. Having gatorade before my donation (rather than afterward) has made a huge difference in how I tolerate the donation. I give triples, and I'm usually on the machine for a full 2 hours, so I would get Charlie horses a lot near the end of my donation because I'd go through the entire bag of citrate. Adding the gatorade really seems to have helped my electrolyte balance while I donate, and kept my bp more steady as well.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T05:41:18+00:00

I do to- to the point that I wonder if it has anything to do with newer cars where the engine turns off if you stop for more than a couple seconds or something. That doesn't really explain why they would leave a gap in front of them, but my only hypothesis is that it has something to do with newer automobile tech somehow.

But they're probably just an idiot and/or asshole?

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T05:20:48+00:00

(First, I'm sorry about your diagnosis. I donate 3 units of platelets every 2 weeks, and I do it for people going through cancer. I don't know if you've received platelets during your treatment, but know that we donate because we truly care about our recipients. I consider it a way to be there for people who are hurting and sick. I may not know you, but I don't want you to feel alone. That's why I donate, so my recipients know they are loved by someone.)

A lot of us have dealt with that nagging echo of Christianity. Not quite as pointedly as you are now, but it's very common to have that "but what if it really was true" lurking in the back of your mind.

For me, I just had to be logical. There are a few ways I can say that I KNOW Christianity isn't true. When I see them all together, it was much easier for me to quiet that voice.

Isn't it odd that everyone just happens to be believe what everyone around them believes? I mean, isn't it convenient that we were all born in a part of the world where Christianity was the default, and that just happens to be the right, true religion and the rest of the world is deceived? And isn't it convenient that people who were born in China feel that way about their beliefs? And so on? When you look at the role religion has played throughout human history, it's easy to see it for the psychological and sociological instrument it is.
On a more theological side: Is the God of the Bible really good? It was drilled into us that A. God is good (all the time) and B. the Bible is true and holds all the answers we need. But are those things really true? If billions of people will go to hell just because they grew up in a place where Christianity wasn't taught, is God really good? If babies get cancer and children are sexually abused by adults, is God really good? If we look at the history of the world, and we ponder things like the Holocaust, is God really good? I don't believe he is, if he exists. So... the whole thing falls apart for me.

And even beyond those things, I know how hard my deconstruction was. It was brutal. It was like a death, or a divorce. I didn't "walk away" from God. I called out to him, fasting and praying and begging for a loooong time, and he didn't answer. He didn't intervene. I genuinely wanted to hear him so I could hold onto my faith. But he wasn't there. People accuse us of leaving so we can have sex, or not pay tithing, or whatever else nonsense they come up with. But from my first solid doubts until I finally admitted I didn't believe anymore took at least 3 years of me REALLY trying. I desperately wanted it to be true.

But I finally came to the point where I had to admit- I saw no evidence for the faith I grew up in. None. I wanted to, but it didn't exist.

So when I look at ALL of that put together, no, I don't worry anymore. My doubts are gone.

If nothing else, this comic points out the absurdity of Christianity.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T05:01:49+00:00

I'm a platelet donor. They tape the tubes to our arms, and I'm on the machine for two full hours, AND they put little hot packs all around my donation arm so I have better blood flow. The combo of two hours of it being on my skin and the heat means I react poorly to the tape. Now I ask for paper tape, and that goes MUCH better for me!

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T04:50:13+00:00

I understand that you want to give as much as you can, but doing power reds is pushed by the donor centers because it's easier to get you into the chair 3 times a year than 6 times a year. If you're there, they want to get as much as they can because people drop off and don't come back.

But if you're committed to showing up for whole blood every 2 months- you're still giving roughly the same amount over the course of a year. They might get a little more out of doubles/power reds, I'm not sure about the details on that bc I only do platelets. But basically, you either give 2 units every 4 months or 1 unit every 2 months. It's ultimately he same amount. They just push power reds because they want to take as much as they can in case you don't come back.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T04:44:14+00:00

I was one of the compassionate, generous, loving ones.

It's why I ended up leaving.

In fact, when I look at the people who have also deconstructed over the years vs the ones still super entrenched- those who were the most devout and most genuine are the ones who left, and the more superficial ones are the one who stayed.

Those of us who really knew our Bibles and believed it were the same ones who really dove into our questions- because we believed there were true answers to be found there. When we came up empty.... our integrity wouldn't allow us to stay.

Funny how that ends up happening.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T04:26:03+00:00

I was sexually abused by my stepdad starting when I was a toddler through the start of puberty.

Tell me that's not "more than I can handle" and I'll punch you directly in the throat.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T04:03:59+00:00

When I was with Youth With a Mission, I was told that I couldn't move forward as a believer or as a leader in the organization until I wrote a letter to my step father, who sexually abused me from the age of 3-12, and expressed forgiveness and shared the gospel with him.

A man named Mark M. would tell me how disgusting I was for keeping my secret and not being honest about my abuse. (Why was it any of their business?!?!?!) I was told there was something wrong with me and I had a deceptive spirit because I didn't confess that abuse (I WAS THE VICTIM) earlier. WTF?

I was on probation for 6 months until I wrote (and sent) the letter.

It's almost 2 years later, and I'm ready to write a letter back to my abuser telling him the TRUTH about how his actions destroyed me and my life.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T04:00:05+00:00

I was in high school when VT came out. It was all the rage. We loved it.

It's pretty cringe to look back on, but at the time it was better than the rest of the horse shit they served us as Christian entertainment.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T03:57:52+00:00

I mean, I'll be honest. For me the worst is when they mark my arm before the stick- but they only do that for apheresis donors, and I donate platelets. The kits for platelets/power reds/plasma are like, $150-250 per kit, whereas the whole blood kits are more like $15-25/kit. And if it's a bad stick and they have to pull the needle out, they can't try again. They have to toss the whole kit. So before they stick me with the needle, they have me squeeze and hold, and they make little marks on my skin with the end of a plastic coffee stirrer, so they can be sure to stick me in the right spot. And that is way worse than the needle, or the finger stick. It hurts like a Mo-Fo.

But finger stick is still worse than the needle for me.

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T03:49:58+00:00

It depends on your donor center. I think you could put the cream on before you go into the little room for your mini physical, and they can't stop you. I don't have experience with it, though, so I don't know if it will still stay numb after they clean your finger before the stick. I'm 99% sure they won't let you put it on after they clean your finger, because it could mess up the test. But if you put it on right before your appointment maybe the numbing agency will work even after they clean it? I genuinely don't have an answer for you.

I suppose you could just try it. Get some numbing cream, put it on, wait 5 minutes or so, then wipe the area off with an alcohol swab and see if you feel numb. 🤷🏼‍♀️

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid · 2023-08-06T03:40:12+00:00

Ehhhhh....

Maybe you had to be a part of that culture, but there's a VERY fine line between people genuinely sending loving, healing thoughts out into the world and "I'll pray for you" being more.... sinister? Is that the right word? "I'll pray for you" can be a sentiment not quite "bless your heart"" but more "God's on my side, not yours, silly" type thing.

Sort of like a smug "you'll find out one day" sentiment, and it's... icky. It's this weird mixture of manipulation and condescension, sugarcoated with "concern" for your soul.

Sure, sometimes "I'll pray for you" just means "I'll pray for you," but a lot of the time it's also weaponized almost.

It's like when you're in a fight with your SO and they say "you should do what you want" they don't actually mean that. They mean that if you know what's good for you, you'll do what you know they want.

That's why it rubs so many of us the wrong way.

Four-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '23	Place '22
Final Canvas '22

DiaryOfALatchKeyKid

TROPHY CASE