I asked him to read the reading material since he hadn’t earlier that day prior to coming in. There were fourteen pages in the packet, none of the words were in fine print, but still, he said he should have brought along his lawyer, and I told him he could call one if he wished.
He made it through that phase of the process, and then the phlebotomist asked if he wanted something to drink, some water or juice, replying he would take a beer, but we were all out, not having any in the first place, finally settling for a water.
When he got on the table to donate a unit of blood, he asked if he would live a normal life after giving, but being a clown, with red nose, long floppy shoes, he walked away unscathed, and as for a normal life, I did not know what he considered that to be, not having lived the clown life myself.
Duane Anderson currently lives in La Vista, NE. He has had poems published in Fine Lines, Cholla Needles, Tipton Poetry Journal, and several other publications. He is the author of ‘On the Corner of Walk and Don’t Walk,’ ‘The Blood Drives: One Pint Down,’ and ‘Conquer the Mountains.’
