Blood, Sweat, and Fears
Psalm 56:3
“Blood, Sweat, and Fears” is episode #599 of the Adventures in Odyssey audio series. It was written by Kathy Buchanan, and originally aired on October 14, 2006.
Summary
Eugene’s organization is chosen to coordinate Odyssey’s annual blood drive, but Eugene is terrified of needles.
Plot
Eugene walks into Whit's End with the news that his organization, Hand Up, has been chosen to coordinate Odyssey's annual blood drive. As Whit, Connie, and Wooton begin to look at how they can help set up, since Whit has offered to allow the blood drive to be hosted at Whit's End, Eugene gets a call from Katrina, and is reminded of the fact that he does not handle needles and blood particularly well. After just managing to say the word "needles", Eugene quickly hangs up and attempts to reassure himself--surely, as he is merely the organizer, he won't have to give his own blood.
Later, Trent goes to Whit's End, where he finds Connie at the counter and explains that he is waiting for Mandy--Eugene asked them to help promote the blood drive by interviewing people who have had transfusions, and Trent was supposed to run the studio for Mandy while she interviewed the people. Connie then gives him some bad news—Mandy won't be able to help. Connie then suggests that she run the studio while Trent do the interviews, but Trent is terrified at the prospect—he has no idea how to interview people!
Meanwhile, Eugene continues to promote the blood drive and begins setting up appointments for the donors. However, to his surprise, when he asks Whit, Whit explains that because of an incident in combat in which he lost a lot of blood and a nurse accidentally took his blood instead of giving some to him, he has been leery of the thought of giving blood. Eugene suggests that perhaps Whit should face his fear, but Whit is unsure, and avoids further discussion of the issue.
Trent's first interview does not go particularly well—he stumbles over his words, forgets the interviewee's name, and can't even remember the questions he was going to ask. He then interviews Wooton about a blood transfusion that occurred after a ski lift accident, but Wooton gets so distracted and goes off on too many tangents for Trent to keep the interview on track, and they run out of time. Later, when talking with Whit and Connie, he informs them that he's not stupid enough to try something he's not good at a third time. Whit remarks that Trent's line of thinking is similar to that of Moses, who protested that he could not speak well when God asked him to speak to Pharaoh about letting the Hebrews go; after arguing with God, He decided to let Aaron do the talking instead. Letting another person do the job appeals to Trent, but Whit points out that if he is the person God truly wants to use, he could be missing out on an important opportunity if he does not do as God asks.
Eugene runs over final preparations with Mr. Phelps, a board member at the hospital, who tells him that they want him to be the guest of honor at the pancake breakfast on the day of the blood drive. Eugene believes this recognition to be unnecessary, but Mr. Phelps explains that Eugene will be the first blood donor of the day—"What better way to kick off the event," he asks, "than with the one who made it such a success?". Eugene is less speechless and more terrified, as he tells Connie later at the front counter. After laughing at the irony of a person hosting a blood drive but being too afraid to give blood himself, and after finding no reason that Eugene cannot donate blood, Connie tells Eugene that if doing something, even something of which he is afraid, is right, God will give him the strength to do it. Whit walks in and remarks that it might be easier for Eugene to donate blood if someone did it with him—Whit himself!
Later, Trent is reporting live on the blood drive at Whit's End, and interviews Eugene and Whit. Eugene is initially terrified, and almost gives in to his fear of needles, even telling the nurse that he is willing to continue living up to his aversion to blood donation, before Trent stops Eugene and tells him that the nurse already stuck the needle in—Eugene has managed to give blood! Trent then talks to Whit, who admits that giving blood isn't as bad as he thought it would be. As Trent observes, he, Whit, and Eugene all learned something about facing their fears, and begins to sign off. Eugene, however, is exhilarated at having conquered his fear...so exhilarated, in fact, that he ends up fainting!
As Connie, Whit, and Wooton wait for Eugene to wake up, Connie—who has been attempting to stump Wooton on barnyard trivia the entire episode—asks him what the longest recorded flight of a chicken is. Their attention is then caught by Eugene, who wakes up long enough to give the correct answer: "thirteen seconds". Connie, already annoyed that she is the only one who doesn't know her barnyard trivia, is even more furious that an unconscious person answered the question correctly.
Discussion Questions
- There are no discussion questions listed for this episode. »
Cast
Heard in episode
Mentioned in episode
| Character | Mentioned By |
|---|---|
| Katrina Meltsner | Eugene Meltsner |
| Mandy Straussberg | Trent DeWhite |
Notes
- Trivia
- Connie mentions in this episode that Whit jumps out of airplanes—a fact first revealed in #143: “Muckraker”.
- Eugene's weight is revealed to be about 116 pounds in this episode.
- Connie mentions the Straussberg family's ongoing problems to Trent in this episode.
- Audio
- Actor Jess Harnell ad-libbed the singing of "The Trent Show!" (Listen closely and you can hear laughter at the end.)
- Goofs
- In the teaser, two lines—"Genus Hymenolaimus" and "How long did it take you to recover?", spoken by Eugene and Trent, respectively—are not actually heard in the episode.
- One of the questions Connie was asking from the barnyard animal quiz was "What farm animal noise doesn't echo?" Wooton, who claims to know everything about barnyard animals, answers "A duck's quack!" This was proven wrong in the popular TV show MythBusters, and Matthew Parker even declares "Give me a duck and a trip to the Grand Canyon and I'll prove a duck's quack echoes!" in #679: “The Green Ring Conspiracy, Part 1”.
Reviews
Quotes
Eugene Meltsner: I'm very fond of throwing out clichés when they involve people other than myself, you know...
Wooton Bassett: <being interviewed by Trent DeWhite on Kids' Radio> I was riding down a ski slope on my tricycle, which is something I wouldn't recommend to all you kids at home...
Connie Kendall: Let's see, reasons you wouldn't be able to donate... have you given blood in the last 56 days?
Eugene Meltsner: What do you think?
John Whittaker: You know, you sound just like Moses.
Trent DeWhite: I'll take that as a compliment.
Connie Kendall: How does he know all that?
Eugene Meltsner: The man once made a life-sized fort out of Jell-O cubes. Understanding the way his mind works would be a challenge for Einstein!
Wooton Bassett: <Singing to the theme music of the blood drive interviews on Kids' Radio> It's the Trent Shoooowwww! It's Trent's show! It's not your show!
Connie Kendall: Just imagine that the people listening have the same interests that you do.
Trent DeWhite: That's the nerve-wracking part—other people listening. Critiquing every question I ask... every word I stumble over... laughing every time my voice squeaks! Aw, man... could you hand me a towel? My shirt's soaking through.
Chris Anthony: And when you [write], don’t forget to ask how you can get a copy of today’s episode! It’s called – get this – “Blood, Sweat, and Fears.”
Eugene Meltsner: <On the phone with Katrina> Oh, well, yes, well, that's just a silly phobia, I'll be fine... Yes, I know what happened the last time I saw blood, but I'm quite certain I'll be able to cope. No worries...Well, of course I can say it...Yes, I can...Yes, I can... Fine. N-needle. <Quickly> I'll see you at home, goodbye! <Hangs up> Alright, deep cleansing breath. After all, I'm merely the organizer. I won't have to give my own blood...will I?
- Episodes aired 10 times
- Episodes in Album 47: Into the Light
- 2006 Season Episodes
- Episodes sorted alphabetically
- Episodes sorted chronologically
- Episodes hosted by Chris Anthony
- Episodes written by Kathy Buchanan
- Episodes directed by Bob Hoose
- Episodes produced by Bob Hoose
- Episodes with sound design by Jonathan Crowe
- Episodes with music by John Campbell
- Episodes recorded at Unknown
- Episodes engineered by Jonathan Crowe
- Episodes executive produced by Dave Arnold
- Episodes in Silver Celebration
- Episodes in Megapack
- Episodes in Hope in Trying Times
- Episodes with Normal intro
- Episodes with Character (Whit) intro
- Episodes with Previews intro
- Episodes with Narration wraps
- Episodes with Epilogue wraps
- Episodes with Normal wraps
- Episodes with Ad-lib wraps
- Episodes with theme of Fear
- Episodes with references from Psalm
- Episodes produced by Marshal Younger
- Episodes with promos
- Episodes with samples
- Episodes on CBD
- Episodes on iTunes
- Episodes on Amazon
- Episodes on AIOHQ
- Episodes on the Odyssey Library
- Episodes on the Odyssey Scoop
- Episodes on the Soda Fountain
- Episodes with Connie Kendall
- Episodes with Eugene Meltsner
- Episodes with John Whittaker
- Episodes with Laura Schmidt
- Episodes that mention Katrina Meltsner
- Episodes that mention Mandy Straussberg