Published 2026-02-18
tag(s): #random-thoughts
My employer has offices in Argentina[1], and just now I was IMing with a coworker from over there. She was telling me she had blood drawn for some tests.
I've read somewhere in the past, that Americans are sometimes surprised at how open coworkers
can be discussing personal stuff in other cultures. Like health issues, or family
dynamics.
I don't know how true that is. I talk to everyone about everything myself, so I don't think I
can judge that. When you open up to people, your interlocutors also do, in my experience.
Anyway, my coworker told me this and I commented that I recently went for my annual check up[2] and this brought up the very distinct memory of going to a lab to get your blood drawn back home (I wrote about how "home" can mean Argentina or the US, in here ).
In most cases you go to a lab location, rather than having someone at the doctor's office to
draw blood. Unless the doctor is at a hospital.
And more importantly, it is customary that after getting your blood drawn you get a coin-like
token for the local coffee machine. When I was a kid you used get a little coupon to go to a
café near by, which was good business for them: chances are you are fasting, so with your
free coffee you will to get a croissant, or sandwich. A tostado sandwich. 🤤
I wonder if nowadays they give you some discount code for a machine or nearby shop, rather
than a physical token. Times change...
I hadn't thought about the coffee-after-lab thing in many years, and why would I. It's not part of the everyday experience, you go to a lab once in a while. I suppose my wife and I might have commented on it early into our relocation journey, but after noticing it once, you normalize how it happens here, I guess?
And I got nostalgic feelings because I recall there was lab in downtown Buenos Aires that I
visited more than once, as many companies used it for pre-hiring
tests. [3] They gave you tokens that looked like coins for an arcade
game.
Then I felt like sharing the memory, and you might have felt like reading the post. Or you
just reached the end of the post and realized there is no point to this one.
Oooops.