The staff were pretty kind all around, facility was clean.

The dystopian aspect was how many people I saw denied, because they had donated yesterday. You can give twice a week, but have to wait a day in between. I saw at least four or five people get turned away, and they were all pretty upset. The line was extremely long - there are tons of people desperate enough to wait in line for hours to go through the painful process of having their blood sapped out.

I also got a preloaded card as my payment, which has a ton of fees associated with it - I’ll get charged if I use it at an atm or check the balance. I know these cash cards are often also used to pay people who work at like McDonald’s - it just seems like so much of the US is designed to nickel and dime the shit out of the poor.

    • garbagebagel@lemmy.world
      3·
      2 days ago

      In Canada it’s not even legal for employers to give gift cards out as gifts, let alone pay a fucking wage with them. (I mean they still give them as gifts but they’re not technically allowed to).

      US is a fucking wild place.

      • M0oP0o@mander.xyz
        2·
        2 days ago

        Well Canada just uses indentured servants temporary foreign workers for places like McDonald’s so we are not really without sin.

        But getting paid in pre paid cards is wild.

    • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      3·
      2 days ago

      For employers at least, state laws usually require them to offer direct deposit. But the problem is that many low income folks are unbanked. If you’re poor, you’re more likely to have an overdrawn account. And banks have a special credit rating equivalent system for bank account customers. If you have too poor a history with one bank, they’ll close your account, and other banks may refuse to open an account for you. Or many banks have free accounts without a monthly fee, but only if you maintain a minimum balance or deposit a minimum in there each pay period. Poor folks can struggle to qualify on either of those accounts.

    • janNatan@lemmy.ml
      3·
      2 days ago

      Yeah, all kinda of places. Dollar General does this too. They have a direct deposit option. But, many people who work there don’t have a bank account, so they offer to pay you with a pre-paid card. And it does have tons of fees.