On Thursday, January 3, 2013, the Mets hosted a blood drive at Citi Field. I was super excited but kind of worried that I didn't have enough iron to donate (as I have failed to donate the last time at Citi Field), but nonetheless still received two tickets to a home game in April. But indeed, my iron levels were sufficient and was eligible to donate. When I first walked into the Caesar's Club Section, I gave the lady my donor card and after a minute, I turned my head, only to see Mr. Met approaching me. I greeted him and gave him a high five. :) Then, I proceeded to fill out the form, get the mini physical and waited to be seen. The coordinator guy that escorted me to the male nurse, whose name I forgot, perhaps gave me good luck... I sat for a good 5 minutes before seeing Mr. Met prancing around, visiting the donors, taking pics with everyone, and just being the good ol' type of mascot who makes everyone smile. His camera crew followed him from time to time and it just so happens that this one guy spotted me, and one of the blood donation signs behind me, and had asked if I minded having my picture taken with Mr. Met. Perhaps my bright green sweater and my ethnicity was the reason why the camera guy chose me to be in the picture. There was a guy in front of me that was already releasing his blood and he was closer to the aisle than I was. In any event, I was super pumped and did not object. They positioned the sign as well as moved the foldable beds near me so that when Mr. Met returned, they'd have "the photo shoot." About a few minutes later, Mr. Met comes and while the crew was getting ready, Mr. Met saw that I had the flexer thing in my hand (so that the nurse can find my vein on my arm). So Mr. Met proceeded to flex his fingers to show me how it's done. I followed him and he put both hands on his face as if to act in disbelief that I hadn't flexed all this time. LOL. So then, the camera crew was finally ready. The video guy starting filming, the camera guy told Mr. Met to hold the tickets and told me to do the same. There were tons of photos being taken and then the camera guy said, ok, one shot of you looking at Mr. Met now. So this very shot, ends up on the website, as well as on the facebook post. Not only that, but days later, I discover that there's a video clip of me on the Mets website as well. Just so you know, all this happened before the nurse poked a needle onto my arm and sucked the pint of blood out of me. While my blood was being gushed out of the needle and into the bags, the nurses who took lunch breaks returned and saw the moved beds and wondered what happened. They asked my nurse what happened and I kind of answered for him. I told them Mr. Met came by for a photo shoot and although it sounded like a white lie, it was indeed true. LOL. When I was done, I headed over to the snacks tables and sat for a good 20 minutes. Mr. Met resurfaced and came around to take more pictures. I grabbed my camera out and asked a random lady to take a picture of me and Mr. Met, just in case my prior photo shoot didn't work out, lol. So, I gave Mr. Met another high five. About 5 minutes later, I got on the short line to get my ticket voucher for the 2 tickets in April, and low and behold, Mr. Met passes by and gives me another high five. I don't think there's ever a time I met someone 4 times in one day. It was pretty cool to hang out with Mr. Met, America's favorite mascot in 2012. That day was the highlight of my year so far. It was pretty cool. I've always donated blood but nothing beats this location with the company of Mr. Met and who can say no to free tickets? When I first saw this post on facebook regarding donating blood, I saw a bunch of fans or subscribers comment...saying that the Mets have resorted to taking our blood to have us come donate and in exchange provide us tickets so that we can see their games. Their comments really ticked me off. First of all, donating blood is a selfless thing to do and you can save lives. It has nothing to do with baseball. For the Mets to host this and give fans free tickets, it's really their way of giving back...well here's your chance to redeem tickets that you overpaid for in the past! I know tickets are always overpriced and that's how a business runs. So for fans or subscribers to comment negatively and say they wouldn't trade their blood for tickets, well you didn't harm the Mets, you just didn't save a life that day. Which I think it's sad.Especially if you made some correlation with donating blood and the Mets. So on that note, that's my Mr. Met Overload Day. I can't wait for Spring Training.
-Angela
