Posting from Mbin, and am not allowed to make a thread without a body :/
The only time I ever donated (I’m banned now because I’m not cis gender now) it was just a tv playing something random I can’t remember and I just watched a movie on my phone with headphones.
Where did you try to donate that banned you? At least on the American Red Cross site it seems transgender and nonbinary individuals are not banned from donating on the basis of their non-cisgender identity, but I know not everyone is American and perhaps some donor centers even in America might be more bigoted about things. I am sorry you experienced this.
Oh hey! I’m unbanned now. They finally updated the law on banning “gay men” back in 2023. Sense I was assigned male at birth and I did things with others who was assigned male at birth I wasn’t able to donate. That’s awesome, if I have time I think I might go try doing it. But… the state of this country in America, I’ll hold off for about 4 years though.
Your body, your choice. But I’m not really sure how the administration being awful means you don’t want to donate, unless you are worried of grievous bodily harm being done to you and then you would want all your blood.
It has been years since I last gave blood, it was the 27th time over many years.
In general I just relax and enjoy a moment when I can’t do anything, one of the few precious moments when everything else can wait and you have nothing to do.
It is great.
I need to get donating again, and I will as soon as I regain my health, I have dealt with one issue after the other, and have not felt well enough to donate…
They used to have a tv with the news on. They renovated and took them out. Now I just chat with the nurse or browse here I guess.
For blood, since I have one arm free I just do whatever on my phone. Sometimes interacting with the Threadiverse, sometimes reading articles, sometimes texting people…
If I am doing platelets, both my arms are hooked up and I can’t move them, so I’m stuck with watching stuff on the TV screen. It’s really cool they have those at all, though—better than staring at the wall! I usually pop on some documentary, which is… very much ignoring my list of movies and TV shows I might like to see some day. Oops.