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.
Here in Germany at the facility I donate at, you need to wait two full days before you can donate again because your body needs the time to regenerate. While the toll on your body is smaller compared to a blood donation, your body still is at work to regenerate what’s missing now. It’s not a precaution that’s put there willy nilly
In Belgium, you need to wait two weeks before donating again (plasma and platelets, 2 months for blood). I regularly donate platelets, and sometimes plasma if the platelet slots are all occupied.
We get thank-you receipts (or public transportation ones) which we can turn in for some goodies. I hoard them up until I can get two tickets for an amusement park that I can visit with my daughter.
I don’t know if getting paid for it would be better or more appreciated. I feel that it could lead to more abuse? I am much more happy to know I’m donating for a good cause…
Sadly, I used to not have the luxury of donating plasma for the sake of it but at times required it to pay for bills and groceries. It’s a little better right now, but it’s still not ideal.
I’m sure there are others like me who can definitely use the money. It’s a noble idea that people would donate for the sake of it, but it’s unlikely and plain unrealistic that people are altruistic enough to do so. It’s fine to incentivise them for it in my books.
The company behind the facility uses the plasma to produce drugs and probably gain way more from the single donation than the donor does in terms of money. The least they can do is pay people for their donations. I’ve had a pretty big discussion on this topic around a year ago or so where people from the US, for example, chimed in and said that they’d get more than 100$ per donation. Insane compared to the 25€ we get here. So even these 25€ that are frowned on by some are nothing for how much blood plasma is actually worth.
It’s awesome that you’re in a position where you’re not “forced” to donate anything for money, but the reality is that there are loads of people who rely on that additional income and use the opportunity where possible.