It's the third Monday in January (already??), so we're observing Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. I love that I got several emails from the Obama people (including a video of Michelle!) calling for community service. My first reaction was, my whole job is service, I'm taking the day off! But then I realized I have nothing better to do, so I signed up for an event at a high school in my neighborhood.
I went over there this morning and it turns out the thing I wanted to volunteer for is actually on the North Side. I am not going there. The stuff at the high school was mostly symbolic, like painting a mural for peace or folding 1000 paper cranes. I'm not really into that. I had a Plan B, though; I headed to the hospital to donate blood. I reasoned that while it would be a smaller donation of time than the cleanup I had been planning to do (at a transitional home for people living with HIV and AIDS), it would still be very personal.
After going through the battery of preliminary questions (which took forever because of my dangerous record of international travel) and tests (my iron levels are good!), the nurse and I discovered that I miss the minimum weight requirements. By 1.5 pounds. (They have enormous digital scales now. No more sliding the triple-beam balance.) Arghhh. The ladies still thanked me profusely for trying, giving me orange juice and a gift card for the hospital cafeteria.
I tried to do right by this day. Oh well. I guess I'll go back to lesson planning now.
How are you spending King's birthday?
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