The American Red Cross is a wonderful, helpful organization.
And it drives me nuts.
I donated blood with them once in college – and they’ve been calling my cell phone ever since, asking for more donations.
I’ve told them a couple times that, not long after my last donation, I was told by a doctor that I had hypovolemia (low blood volume) and that this makes blood donation unwise. Would they please note this on my file and stop calling? The assure me that they will – and call again next month. Anymore, I just ignore the calls when I see their number on my phone.
But recently they did one more thing to raise my ire.
They gave my husband a gift.
Daniel donates blood regularly through the Red Cross donation center at his workplace, and when he got to a certain number of units, they thanked him with a gift of a red potholder and oven mitt.
So, a couple days ago, I’d just finished reseasoning my cast iron skillet on the stove and I set it on top of a small stack of potholders on the counter.
I peeled the parsnips and cut up the squash and ham for a Farmer Boy-inspired meal, and I set the skillet back on the burner to fry the ham.
A couple minutes later, I turned aside from the sink to see red smoke puffing out around the bottom of my cast-iron skillet.
You see, unbeknownst to me, the synthetic fabric of the Red Cross potholder on the top of the stack had melted to the bottom of my skillet – and when I’d placed the skillet on top of the burner I’d placed the potholder there too.
Thankfully, the batting was flame resistant and I didn’t have a fire on my hands, just a mess of melted plastic and an acrid smoke filling my kitchen.
Thanks a lot Red Cross :-)
Oh my.