A Michigan man recently made an unusual purchase at Goodwill: human blood.
Logan Strohmeier was browsing the shelves of a local thrift store when he found a wooden box with a row of glass slides. “I had a microscope as a kid and I really liked old technology, so when I saw this, I saw an opportunity to get rid of the old microscope,” Strohmeier said. news of the week.
When he got home, he quickly realized that the slide had a label that read “human blood smear.” Strohmeier did not know what to think. “I didn’t know there was blood in it until I got home to see what was in it,” he said. “It was supposed to be a surprise!”
In general, the sale of whole human blood for transfusion is prohibited. The FDA regulates blood as a biological product and requires strict controls.
They weren’t likely to be too concerned about a slide containing a small amount of human blood, but Strohmeyer was puzzled by how the blood ended up in the box. “At first I thought it was a personal collection of slides and thought it was a blood sample taken by someone else,” he said.
He searched for answers on social media and shared images of the slides on Reddit under the name u/MavGoneMad. “I found a bag of microscope slides at Goodwill and it contains human blood samples,” he wrote. “Is this a biohazard?”
The decision to look to social media for answers is a major shift in how users interact with these online platforms. In 2025, a Pew Research Center study based on representative data found that 53 percent of American adults said they get news from social media at least sometimes.
However, Strohmeier’s decision to respond on social media was soon vindicated when several Reddit users responded with answers about how the bloodshed came to be. “It’s a beginner’s set of slides, they’re very cheap, and all these samples are pretty standard. I have the same set,” said one user. – But I’m a biologist.
Still, Strohmeyer had questions about the blood slide left unanswered. “Whose blood is this?” asked. “Is that even sanitary?” Strohmeier’s post has received more than 1,000 upvotes on Reddit, helped in large part by the fact that his store find bears more than a passing resemblance to the slide box that plays a major role in the hit Showtime series. is correct.
In the series, vigilante/serial killer Dexter Morgan keeps a meticulous collection of blood slides, one for each of his victims. Unfortunately, Strohmeyer does not understand this link. “I’ve never seen that show,” he said. “I see all these links so it must be good.”
Instead, you now focus on taking a closer look at the slide itself. “I was very excited to find a microscope from my childhood and see everything,” he said. “I plan to keep it for my personal use and study!”
