Blood & Ink

Okay, this morning ... two experiences ... blood & ink ...

Blood

Because of my various medical issues, I am continually "donating" blood for various lab tests. I generally go to the same lab (I'll not mention it by name), where I almost always have the same technician (I will not name him/her).

Over the years we have gotten to know each other a little, the tech and I. She/He is greatly skilled. In all the years I've gone there, he/she has had to stick me a second time only once. She/He always finds an accommodating vein; she/he rarely leaves a mark.

I've told him/her off and on about my mother, who died last month at 98. Today was the first time I've seen her/him since that death, and when I told the story, tears came into his/her eyes, and she/he told me the story of his/her late father, to whom she/he had felt especially close.

I joked as I left the room, tears in my eyes now, too: Well, I'm glad I cheered up your morning! And we laughed, though I dripped tears all the way home.


Ink

I got an email notice this morning from the New York Times (I'm a subscriber--print and digital): My credit card is out of date (yes, I got a new one the other day), so I needed to update my information.

I got online. Got into my account. Changed the info. Got a message that "for security reasons" my account was now "locked."

I took that well.

I called the suggested number and talked to a series of robots, each of which kept reminding me to hit the # sign after I'd entered account number, balance, new card info, etc.

By the time it was all over, I was frustrated and angry enough to, well, let blood.

And I don't even know if, next month, I'll have to do it all over again or if the automatic deduction will go through with the new card info I entered this morning. Can't wait to find out, you know?

So ... a pair of interactions today. One human--very human; the other, cyber--very cyber. Guess which I preferred?

The one that brought me to tears, to very human tears.