As you can tell from the photo, I had some blood drawn. You’ll notice one draw bandage on each arm and one on my hand. Typical blood draws only use a single needle and this one should have gone like that as well.
You see, I have very rubbery veins. Knowing this, after 65 years, I am able to alert the staff that my rolling vascular system doesn’t cooperate well. In this case the phlebotomist (blood draw staff) took it as a personal challenge to get blood from my arm when I said it would be difficult. After three failed attempts on my right arm, she could have sheepishly admitted I perhaps had a good assessment and redirected her efforts towards my hand. I had previously told her the vein bulging on the back of my hand was much easier to jab. But no, now she doubled down and stubbornly attacked my left arm to prove what an amazing phlebotomist is.
After an additional three attempts at finding my left arm’s elusive vein, she began blaming my vascular system for the perforated elbow joints I now wore rather smugly. As I had explained to her earlier, the hands were an easy target and I actually knew something about my well-worn body. With the next attempt she stuck my right hand and the suspense was over.
If we make a practice of listening for understanding the odds of finding of finding a bit of knowledge improve dramatically. That knowledge, when applied, looks a lot like Wisdom. In my speeches about the generations, I refer to it as “generous listening”. Like most people, it is a habitual skill I still need to work on as well.
December 11, 2024
