I’ve written about the American Red Cross stalking me for my blood in the past.  In short, I used to regularly donate blood to the American Red Cross, but when they started calling me multiple times per day & asking that I schedule a donation, it irked me.  I asked them to stop calling, many, many, times, and even though they assured me they would, the calls never stopped.

Note to every charity everywhere:  Don’t call me.  It’s the quickest way to lose my support.  And especially don’t call me multiple times per day, after I’ve specifically asked you not to.

I’m sad to realize it, but I’ve actually stopped donating to nearly every charity because I can’t handle the volume of phone calls.  If you donate to one, you end up on a list.  Then 20 more call and ask you for money.  It’s a really sad state of affairs.

But I digress.  Back to the issue at hand:  The American Red Cross.  Last time I wrote about the Red Cross, they had promised to stop calling, and to their credit, they actually did. I thought the problem was resolved.

Nope.

It only took about 10 months and I was back in the call queue, with the American Red Cross calling me every other day.  Never leaving a message, just filling my phone’s notification bar with “missed calls.”

I finally had a chance to answer one of the calls and the cheery lady said, “Hi!  This is the American Red Cross calling to schedule your next donation! Blood is low, blah blah blah.”  Quite presumptuous of them, don’t you think?  Especially since during our last call (10 months previous) I told them that I would never donate blood to the ARC again.

I told the cheery sounding woman, “Listen, I don’t mean to sound like a jerk, but you’ve been calling me every other day for a month now.  I told you a year ago that I will never, ever, ever donate blood to the Red Cross again. Ever. So remove my number from the list and stop calling.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry sir, I can take care of that.”

Did she?  Nope.  I’m still getting calls from the American Red Cross.  In fact, they just called again, prompting me to write this article.

I’m half-seriously thinking of suing these people for harassment.  I doubt I’d win, since the ARC is a pretty sympathetic party, but come on – this is beyond ridiculous.

If you’re looking to donate blood, and I hope you are, look for a local blood bank in your area.  Personally, I prefer Memorial Blood Centers. They’re always nice & respectful, and are not anywhere near as pushy as the American Red Cross.

Addendum: I want to point out that if the American Red Cross had only stopped calling me when I asked them to, I would still be a Red Cross Donor. They would have received gallons more of my O-negative blood, for free, and I’d still be bringing my friends & coworkers in with me when I donated.  But that’s not how the Red Cross operates.  They don’t care if they annoy you. The way they see it, there’s always that small chance that you might donate again. And they’ll make something like $100-$500 by selling your pint of blood, so why not annoy the hell out of you, right?  The worst you can do is hang up on them. Besides, they’re the American Red Cross!  What kind of a**hole would get mad at the wonderful American Red Cross?

I’ll tell you what kind: this kind. Me. And you’d be upset too if they harassed you as much as they’ve harassed me.  This guy is. So are these people.  And these people. And these people. The one thing everyone seems to have in common: Type O blood.