Greyfox105 said:
Pah, we don't have "Blood drives" over here.
We have certain temporary clinics set up on certain dates for registered blood donors to go to.
I myself donate blood, since they slackened the quite tight rules a bit (But they still won't allow men who have had anal or oral sex with other men to donate blood, even if their blood is fine ¬.¬).
So yeah, I go and donate my blood freely to repay the system, in a way.
They saved my life, I'll give them my blood to save other lives, and my organs when I no longer need them.
I have one question for you - what anime is your avatar from? I think I have an idea, but I'm not 100% certain... it wouldn't happen to be from one that has a lot of gory deaths, paranoia and insanity, and a really confusing plotline, where the second series is yet to be dubbed into English... would it?
Anyway, regarding the topic of the thread. I don't donate blood myself, but that's not because I don't want to or that I disagree with it. No, I simply have a fear of needles. That is, I have a fear of needles being stuck into me (though watching them is fine). I always used to get really nervous and worried whenever there was a vaccination at school, and I get extremely nervous when I think of someone sticking a needle into my vein and drawing up blood. I agree totally that donating blood is a worthy cause though, and support other people doing so. I'm also a registered organ donor, I have my NHS card in my wallet at all times so if I die unexpectedly at least my organs will be going somewhere where they can do plenty of good. It's not as if I'll need them, right?
As for whether or not I'm killing people by not donating blood? That's just a stupid way of looking at it. That's like saying that I killed a person because I didn't stop them from drinking alcohol or smoking a cigarette on a single night out, which eventually helped to lead them to the heart or liver disease that killed them years later. Everything everyone does affects someone, it's like in that Discworld novel 'Going Postal' where Mr Pump measures responsibility for eventual death in fractions and stuff. If I donate blood then I'm helping save someone's life, yeah. But not donating doesn't mean that I've killed them. That's just plain illogical.
Assuming I did get the anime right about your avatar, Greyfox105, I approve of the GIF greatly. Rena is easily my favourite character and I am an unashamed shipper of Rena/Keiichi...