blood

 A walk through the town, following the small map sent per email. 

It is to a church hall that is being used as a blood transfusion centre. Don the mask and go in, there is a man ticking of names on a list. Join a queue, fill out a form printed out especially using the data from the small plastic card.

Then stand in another  line, see a doctor. She asks questions, and measures blood pressure. And when she is finished, join another line, an assay of the red blood cells is made. Then go into a large room with ten couches and choose an empty one at random.

A woman comes in, calls the name, raise the hand. She asks for the date of birth just to make sure that there has been no confusion. Then there is a short pain in the arm and the process starts.

It is finished in five minutes, leave with a bottle of wine and a cheese sandwich. A small thank you for having been there.