kodokan

This is somewhat old news, but a year or two back the FDA lifted the ban on blood donations from people who lived in the UK during Mad Cow Times.

I can today personally attest that yes, they will happily take your blood! And that the vast range of post-donating sweet and savory snacks is far superior to the plate of communal biscuits and lukewarm weak tea of 1990s Britain. There’s even a fun app to track your donations, gallons given, lives helped, leveling up badges to collect for key seasonal shortage dates, etc, which is all much easier than the little dark blue passport-style book with the pasted-in stamped certificates that I still have from a previous, non-computerized era.

ddsrph

Donating blood is a good thing I should do more often. In military it was encouraged and easy to do so I donated several times. Are you still in Ohio? I guess your son has graduated from Ohio State by now.

S Folinsky

During my time in the US Army Reserve, as inducement to donate we were allowed to skip the afternoon of our weekend drill without penalty and with pay. Curiously the donations were handled by the local civilian blood bank. I credited my donation to my law school AS rather than the 91st Division. Go figure.

Pulaski

I went almost every 5 months for about 15 years, giving ½l each time, though there were a few gaps, but it must have been more than 20 times. Then I arrived in the US, and my donations stopped. I will be restarting, soon.

kodokan

Still in Ohio, yes. Graduated son, no… while he was taking a gap year during Covid to work full time instead, he met a girl, a co-worker at the grocery store. She was in an unstable, dysfunctional family environment and needed to move into her own place, but couldn’t afford anywhere remotely decent, or near work, and had no transport. So he decided he would move into an apartment with her.

Returning to full time studies was no longer possible, as his income is needed to help house them (and buy a car, so she could get her license, and then use it for her work - he works a few minutes walk from their apartment). He’s back in school part time, but at our local community college, and will shortly finish up an associate’s degree in business/ IT.

He seems happy at the moment, but only time will tell if this was the right choice for him to make! Darn kids, and the way you have to let them live their own lives 😂

ddsrph

Finishing school is sometimes best to not rush there is plenty of time. I think I was 33 before finally done.

tom169

For your own sanity do not give over your phone number. You will be hounded.