{"id":16024,"date":"2009-10-16T13:04:10","date_gmt":"2009-10-16T19:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=16024"},"modified":"2009-10-16T14:40:58","modified_gmt":"2009-10-16T20:40:58","slug":"presumption-of-guilt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/10\/16\/presumption-of-guilt.html","title":{"rendered":"Presumption of Guilt"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

So about six months back<\/a>, <\/em>I gave blood at the Bonfils blood drive at the office. Huzzah for me, and way to get beyond your visceral repulsion of needles, Dave!<\/em> Still, nothing I’ve not done before.<\/p>\n

A few weeks later, I got an interesting letter, which is stashed away somewhere, but basically it said:<\/p>\n

\n

Don’t worry — it turns out you don’t have HIV after all.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Gah!<\/em> <\/p>\n

It turns out the initial testing of my donation had shown a positive. They didn’t mention that, but did a mandatory (and more thorough) retesting that showed me as clear. Which is when they told me about it.<\/p>\n

There was then various legal disclaimers and so forth, and that it was my responsibility (not theirs) if I wanted further testing. Since I am as close as you can get to Zero Risk for HIV infection as you can get, I was not terribly worried.<\/p>\n

There was a further note that said, “Hey, by the way, even though you’re clean, you can’t donate for six months.”<\/p>\n

Which, of course, makes no sense. Granted, the logistics of testing and retesting make it unlikely they could actually use the blood I’d donated last time, but why wait for six months before letting me donate again?<\/p>\n

Well, a few days back I got a call from Bonfils congratulating me on living another six months, and asking if I’d traveled to some HIV-prone places or done some things that might have infected me. Um, no. Great, we’ll end you further info.<\/em> And so, yesterday, I got a further email, which said,<\/p>\n

\n

You are now eligible for testing to reenter the blood donor program and we encourage you to do so.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Right. Basically, to give blood, I have to be tested. To be tested, I can either go to a Bonfils blood center (which, frankly, there’s one I walk past downtown), or I can wait to the next time they visit my office. <\/p>\n

Hrm.<\/p>\n

Okay, I guess I can do that. I’m still irked that a mistake on their <\/em>part, recognized as such, has suddenly put me on the Do Not Donate list. It may well be a legal restriction, but it’s still an annoying presumption of “guilt” that I have to prove otherwise. Not quite as annoying as being of a group that is permanently deferred<\/a>, I suppose, but still, for being someone who wants to help<\/em>, even at some level of personal discomfort, not being allowed to is irksome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So about six months back, I gave blood at the Bonfils blood drive at the office. Huzzah for me, and way to get beyond your visceral repulsion of needles, Dave! Still, nothing I’ve not done before. A few weeks later, I got an interesting letter, which is stashed away somewhere, but basically it said: Don’t worry … Continue reading “Presumption of Guilt”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13327,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/01\/20\/katherine_blogs_the_inaug.html","url_meta":{"origin":16024,"position":0},"title":"Katherine blogs the Inauguration","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 20-Jan-09 3:46pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Or, rather, journals it while at school. A transcript: PRESIDENT-ELECT TURNS INTO PRESIDENT OBAMA Former president twisted back from moving boxes. [George H.W. Bush] Lincoln Bible McCain [one of the...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2008"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131554,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/09\/16\/the-tank-turns-100.html","url_meta":{"origin":16024,"position":1},"title":"The Tank turns 100","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 16-Sep-16 5:31pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The first tanks were almost as dangerous to their crew as to the enemy -- but they represented the first steps in a revolution in land warfare that's still going on today. 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