Friday, May 25, 2007: Indian Blood Donations

I walked into the Campus Rec Center about two hours ago to shoot hoops with some ISB students. When I entered the main hall, I was surprised to see several rows of students lying in hospital style beds while their blood was being drawn by very unofficial looking "nurses"... then I remembered that a student group was sponsoring a blood drive on campus today. But this wasn't any ordinary blood drive, it was an Indian blood drive. Seeing me enter the door, several students who I know pretty well accosted me, "Hey Mick! Whats up? You want to give some blood?" "Give blood! its for a good cause." Looking around, I think to myself, "This is India. Are you out of your mind? Definitely not a good idea to give blood!" Not wanting to offend anyway, I fumble through several excuses, "I don't want to be tired later," "I'm scared of needles..." etc. Then one guy looks at me, "Don't lie. You don't think its safe." He was right. I replied, "Not that it isn't safe, I just don't really feel comfortable." I was a bit skeptical of how sanitary it was, especially for an American whose body isn't primed for Indian bacteria. Ultimately, I didn't give blood (Don't worry, Mom). I didn't even consider it. After my workout, about an hour or so later, I came back out into the main hall. The crowd had dispersed, the beds and equipment were gone, and the nurses had "cleaned up" and went home. But as one would expect in India - there were drops of blood all over the floor, bloody napkins still in the trash can and I realized - even at ISB, India is still India. Good idea not to give blood.