So I gave blood today, for the first time in my 25 years of life. Why today? Well, to put it simply, my conscience finally caught up with me - you see, fortunately or unfortunately, I was gifted with an O positive bloodtype. While this is not nearly as rare as O negative, I still qualify as a universal donor, and so my little hemoglobins are somewhat important. Despite that, I am still one of those people who is firmly of the opinion that if God meant us to voluntarily bleed, he would have equipped us with taps, so I have never voluntarily donated before. Medical tests requiring blood draws... well, those are unavoidable. But, up until now, I honestly did not think I could stand the sight of that rather important red stuff leaking down a tube.

The good news is that I seem to have gotten past that, and, honestly, the worst part of the donation was the little spring-loaded poinker they used to prick my finger and check my hemoglobin count - no more poking your fingers with a needle, this thing means business. Felt a little woozy afterwards, but I guess that is to be expected.

The best part, though? At the end of it, they gave me a pint. No, not a pint of beer, sadly enough - in fact, they told me I cannot have any alcohol for 24 hours. Bummer. But they did give me a beer pint glass, which will definitely be useful when I can actually use it.

A pint for a pint? Not a bad deal, and they will both go to good purposes.