I was refused, plain and simple. Why? Because I had LIVED IN EUROPE for more than 6 years since the 1980s. Boom, out the door. I was furious.
Now when I hear about blood drives and the need for more donated blood, it only makes me mad.
Oh, the reason they gave? Mad cow disease. Never mind that I was practically a vegetarian back then, and was not in a country that had ever experienced mad cow. And they are even stricter about the military: if they were stationed for more than 6 months in Europe, they may not give blood. Ever.
Don't take it personally. They are just playing the numbers. Isn't that the responsible thing to do?
If you had gotten through the screening procedure, they would have given you the confidential opt-out option. But you told the truth during the questioning, so you never got to that point.
It is no value judgement against you, personally. I am happy that you continue to enjoy robust good health. But there are some exposures the blood banks would like to keep out of the blood supply, and the only way to determine whether our not a donor might have them is to ask.
Surely they would prefer to refuse donation from a thousand healthy people rather than risk infecting a single person with a deadly disease. Shouldn't this be the case? One just hopes the 999 people understand.
An old boss, and Hemophylliac(sp?), died in the Mid 80's because of Aids-tainted blood, given by the Red Cross...
In my honest opinion, SCREW 'EM!!!!!