Mr. Garner Goes To Washington

On August 3, 2022, my workplace hosted a blood drive. Finally! A chance to give blood after not doing so since the start of the pandemic! Not that I was fearful but there weren't many opportunities to give and then I just wasn't that motivated to get out and get it done! As I have the freedom to mostly work from home, a meeting was scheduled on the day of the blood drive which made for a nice reason to be on campus. However, the meeting needed to be rescheduled. This led to thoughts of, "Do I go in just to give blood? I could always find another time." I self-debated for a short while but ultimately chose to go in that day.  After checking in and answering a bunch of questions, the tech took my blood pressure and paused. “Do you have high blood pressure?” The last time I had it checked was probably going in for a Covid test or something but a few years ago I was considered prehypertensive by my primary physician. “You’re 170 over…” I didn’t hear the second figure bein