The entry in which I ask a question
Life is kinda uneventful right now, but I did go and donated blood today because the blood transfusion center had sent me a postcard asking me to do so. Apparently, they're short on my blood group right now. And because I didn't want to wait two hours like last time, I made an appointment and was out of there in one hour. I count that as a success. Albeit the doctor was all kinds of rubbish and took about thirty seconds telling me (and the following structure was chosen to show exactly how he told me this) thatmyironlevelistoolowandmaybeIshouldtakeironsupplements *holds up some kind of pills for about two seconds* butit'salrightbecauseI'monlydonatingbloodtwotimesayearsoIshouldbefine *smiles at me* Alrightyyoucangoondonatingblood *gives me a pamphlet about how I should eat more red meat*. To say that I was a bit confused after this would be an understatement. At least he was smiling at me the whole time, so I guess I didn't miss some important part where my low iron level is life threatening or so.
Anyway, once I got to the actual donation part everything was fine except for that woman next to me. She got on my nerves. She was super nervous and made a fuss about everything. I get that needles make most people uncomfortable -- heck, I'm not exactly fond of them either -- but she was there voluntarily and judging from her donor pass not the first time. She still acted like everything was a huge burden to her and constantly expressed her feelings of pessimism about the whole blood donating thing of hers. Like it needs a very keen mind and absolute determination to give half a pint, and she couldn't possibly pull that off (it's really not that hard, you just have to sit there and maybe squeeze a little ball to get the blood flowing). I pitied the nurse assigned to her and took extra care to smile at her when she passed me.
On the way out I grabbed a new organ donor pass because my old one is ... kinda old, and the new one is also smaller. I really wish they'd advertize these passes more prominently (like they should with getting registered as a bone marrow donor -- people won't do it if nobody tells them about it and you actively have to search for the registration form! Make it easier, for fox' sake!). How on earth are we supposed to get more people to be willing to donate if they never stumble upon the question if they'd do it or not? Studies show that a lot of people are actually willing to donate organs after their death, but either they don't have a donor pass or they don't talk about it with their families, so no one knows in the end. It's frustrating, really. (Not that I judge anyone who decides against it, just to be clear. It's your body, after all. I do, however, judge you a tiny bit if you argue with the argument that God wouldn't want you to give away some part of your body. I think God may have a trick or two up his sleeve to give me a new spleen or whatever after Judgment Day.)
And now on to my question and the initial reason for this entry: Our transfusion center gives each donor twenty euros for the donation, but to me it feels kind of weird to keep it. I'm not doing this for the money, after all. I do this because I want to help, and if I get money for doing this I can use this to help as well, right? The thing is, though, I can't decide for what I want to donate this time! I've narrowed it down to two things:
Wikipedia or the reconstruction of the Berliner Schloss.
I use wikipedia nearly every day, and I'm in love with the idea of free knowledge for all. I've also donated for it before. The other thing is something that I feel compelled to do because I love Berlin, and I truly believe that the castle would be a great addition to the city. Across the street of the side of the castle is the dome and the Museum Island (Schinkel build one of the museums, and you guys know how much I love his style), and the castle would fit and complete the architecture in that place perfectly. It would be so pretty to take a stroll there.
So, you have to help me.
Poll Donation
Anyway, once I got to the actual donation part everything was fine except for that woman next to me. She got on my nerves. She was super nervous and made a fuss about everything. I get that needles make most people uncomfortable -- heck, I'm not exactly fond of them either -- but she was there voluntarily and judging from her donor pass not the first time. She still acted like everything was a huge burden to her and constantly expressed her feelings of pessimism about the whole blood donating thing of hers. Like it needs a very keen mind and absolute determination to give half a pint, and she couldn't possibly pull that off (it's really not that hard, you just have to sit there and maybe squeeze a little ball to get the blood flowing). I pitied the nurse assigned to her and took extra care to smile at her when she passed me.
On the way out I grabbed a new organ donor pass because my old one is ... kinda old, and the new one is also smaller. I really wish they'd advertize these passes more prominently (like they should with getting registered as a bone marrow donor -- people won't do it if nobody tells them about it and you actively have to search for the registration form! Make it easier, for fox' sake!). How on earth are we supposed to get more people to be willing to donate if they never stumble upon the question if they'd do it or not? Studies show that a lot of people are actually willing to donate organs after their death, but either they don't have a donor pass or they don't talk about it with their families, so no one knows in the end. It's frustrating, really. (Not that I judge anyone who decides against it, just to be clear. It's your body, after all. I do, however, judge you a tiny bit if you argue with the argument that God wouldn't want you to give away some part of your body. I think God may have a trick or two up his sleeve to give me a new spleen or whatever after Judgment Day.)
And now on to my question and the initial reason for this entry: Our transfusion center gives each donor twenty euros for the donation, but to me it feels kind of weird to keep it. I'm not doing this for the money, after all. I do this because I want to help, and if I get money for doing this I can use this to help as well, right? The thing is, though, I can't decide for what I want to donate this time! I've narrowed it down to two things:
Wikipedia or the reconstruction of the Berliner Schloss.
I use wikipedia nearly every day, and I'm in love with the idea of free knowledge for all. I've also donated for it before. The other thing is something that I feel compelled to do because I love Berlin, and I truly believe that the castle would be a great addition to the city. Across the street of the side of the castle is the dome and the Museum Island (Schinkel build one of the museums, and you guys know how much I love his style), and the castle would fit and complete the architecture in that place perfectly. It would be so pretty to take a stroll there.
So, you have to help me.
Poll Donation