The staff were pretty kind all around, facility was clean.
The dystopian aspect was how many people I saw denied, because they had donated yesterday. You can give twice a week, but have to wait a day in between. I saw at least four or five people get turned away, and they were all pretty upset. The line was extremely long - there are tons of people desperate enough to wait in line for hours to go through the painful process of having their blood sapped out.
I also got a preloaded card as my payment, which has a ton of fees associated with it - I’ll get charged if I use it at an atm or check the balance. I know these cash cards are often also used to pay people who work at like McDonald’s - it just seems like so much of the US is designed to nickel and dime the shit out of the poor.
Ah, ok. I’m guessing the law is that pay cards can’t be the only option then
Yeah - as a result of the investigation I read 10 years ago which has mysteriously disappeared from the internet, there was a push to force employers to also offer direct deposit.
I remember around the same time being pressured at Kohls to use the damn pay card.
Ok so I went digging and found some things. It must not have been ProPublica piece but it WAS widely reported -
The Consumerist - Ex McDonald’s Employee Sues Because She Doesn’t Want Her Paycheck On A Prepaid Debit Card
And here’s a followup on the story 2 years later