I registered as a bone marrow donor yesterday. There was a drive by the Indians residing here to register desis as we are hardly in the national database and when it comes to search for donor/matches its a huge disadvantage. The guy said all I have to do is fill a few forms and give some samples of blood. Fair enough.
Now two things notable in the entire process ..
1. We are now 'Asian Indians' [to distinguish from American Indians / Native Americans]. One would have thought just Indian would suffice .. but no, Asian-Indian it is.
2. Under 'Have you ever been refused as a blood donor before, and if so, why' I put 'Yes, Not a US Resident / Travelled outside the US'. Which is quite true .. they have a policy here which says they cant accept your blood, if you have visited some countries in the past 3/5 (I forget which) years. [For fear of you having borne some disease there]. So now..
Desi Lady Incharge of Form-filling Process [DLIFP]: you are planning to stay in the US now arent you?
Me: What? How can I say that, and why does it matter?
DLIFP: You are not a resident? See, the national database guys spend $75 on each application, testing the blood, adding it to the database, it is all subsidised here (sic).. you are not paying for it. So, if you are leaving the country then your sample would be of no use.
Me: [thinking: Damn right it is subsidied .. cos if it were not .. noone would be ready to register as a donor while paying 75 bucks!] See, I have not decided to stay in the US permanently, and I cannot vouch for that.
DLIFP: But we need to be sure you will be staying here.
Me: Look, if my not being a resident is a problem; and if you want me to guarantee my stay .. then I would just like to withdraw my voluntary donation. I wont give my blood sample, please return my filled forms.
DLIFP: No no, what I mean is you will be hear for a short time atleast na?
..and that is how it went. Could have sliced the thick cold frost now developed betn us. Fortunately there was a different dude to take your blood sample. As I was leaving later, DLIFPs about to say something. I stop.
DLIFP: Thank you. Where are you from by the way .. in India. I'm from Bombay.
Me: [knowing what was coming]. I'm from Pune.
DLIFP: (to lady beside her) I knew he was from Pune. One can tell Pune people almost immediately (from their behaviour).
Me: I knew you'd say that. Thank you.
How did you know she would say that? (confused look)
Posted by: Alpa at April 17, 2005 07:29 PMInteresting ...
They should just put up a sign saying that unless you know you're going to be here for x months you shouldn't donate for these reasons ...
alpa .. you need to know the rep that pune ppl have outside. ;-)
Posted by: anya at April 18, 2005 11:37 AMwhat rep do they have...I'm not getting it anywyas, I have met some Puneri's here who tend to stay among themselves and tend to talk in their own pune lingo even here....but thats all....am I guessing in the right direction?? Don't think thats a big deal though...
Posted by: PseudoFreud at April 18, 2005 12:05 PMoutside.. heck everywhr... puneris are a dreaded lot :).. btw, right said PF... they talk so much in their puneri lingo that they convert even hardcore telugu people to their language... not to mention a poor half marathi delhi boy :)...
Posted by: Prashant at April 19, 2005 12:55 PMNice!
I registered in the marrow database a month or two back... they didn't make such a fuss about it...
There was no Asian-Indian option on the form either!
Posted by: Chinmay at April 21, 2005 03:25 PMno no .. this was a special drive by indians to get people of indian origin registered. (thats why)
Posted by: anya at April 21, 2005 05:00 PMWhat??!! Now the way people talk in B'bay is different from the way ppl talk in Pune?This is really complicating. I've never lived in india but visit it once a year. Visited Pune 2 years ago and it didn't seem different from B'bay. Please explain!
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