Neither the Red Cross nor my school cares if people die.

This is my first blog post that's not for a school assignment because, so far, this is the single worst day of my junior year. Not even Dodgeball is cheering me up, and I love that movie. So yeah, this is Serious Business.

I was planning on participating in the school blood drive today. I have given blood twice before and done just fine, thank you very much. I made sure to eat iron-rich foods, like shredded wheat cereal, which is frickin' 95% iron. I got a good night's sleep. I prepared exactly the same way as I have in the past, so nothing should have gone wrong.

But I didn't factor in one tiny detail: my school, despite mostly being as tolerable as a high school can possibly be, is like this:

That's right. My school refuses to use heat until November, and in October it is so intensely cold that it is impossible to be comfortable without wearing gloves, which are probably against uniform code and also impossible to write or type with. A winter coat would be nice, too, but the best thing they'll let us wear is a uniform sweater, which is like putting a napkin over something and sticking it in a freezer. It doesn't help at all.

And that's just the main part of the school. The gym has to be about ten times colder. Now, it's sensible for a gym to be colder than the rest of a normal school because people are going to get hot during P.E. But this is not a normal school, so people are still going to turn to icicles even if they're running around.

Naturally, the gym is where the blood drive is held. Now, room temperature has never been a problem in the past because the other times I've donated, it's been relatively warm. So I had no idea that temperature affects a person's iron levels. A lot. So after having my iron tested for the first time, I was told that I was at 11.8. So I was told to try squirming around to warm myself up for about two minutes to increase my iron. In this short time, I was not nearly warm enough to actually feel my fingers or toes, but this alone boosted my iron level up to 12.3. The necessary level for a blood donor is 12.5, so I asked if I could have a couple more minutes to get to my normal body temperature because by then the tests would surely come up with my actual iron level, which was obviously at least 12.5.

They said no.

Let me get this straight, Red Cross. My blood type is B negative, which is in high demand. I have given blood before and have had no problems whatsoever. You and I both know that those iron tests are inaccurate, and even if my iron level was only 12.3, 0.2 points can't make that big of a difference. (The ideal iron level for a woman is at least 12.1, and I'm above that, so I'm perfectly healthy.) You don't care that my blood could save lives. You just think that I'm too much of a wimp to handle blood donation with an iron level of 12.3 and would rather see innocent people die because of a B negative blood shortage than see poor little delicate me feel slightly dizzy. Let me tell you something, Red Cross. I am one quarter Italian, and I will not stand for this. You think I am too much of a sissy to give blood? Oh, no. You do not insult me like that. Clearly you have no idea who I am. And for the record, putting me in this foul mood did more damage to my health than allowing me give blood would have.

So to sum up, if some poor type B negative person gets in an accident and there's not enough blood to save him, the Red Cross and my school are fully responsible for that. Oh, and all you crybabies who have complained to the Red Cross because you had a hard time giving blood. It's all your fault that they can't be more lenient. I know someone who said that she fainted her first time, and I think she donated blood again after that. If she can suck it up, so can you.

Oh, and if the fact that you made me cry somehow makes you happy (which within the realm of possibility; I wouldn't be at all surprised if you were sadists), just know that you will never ever make me cry as much as Clannad After Story. So there! ;)

UPDATE 10/25/11: If anyone cares, I have just set up an appointment for this Saturday. If they don't want my blood then, I guess there's nothing I can do, but I guess this should work because I like visiting the Red Cross building better than participating in school drives anyway, so....yeah, I'm in a good mood now. ^_^ Sorry for being so angry in the rest of this post. I was just having a bad day, and being nice all the time eventually makes a person explode once in a while.

Do I even need to explain what's wrong here?

I won't be held responsible for any monitors that get punched as a reaction to this image.

 You've probably heard of Westboro Baptist Church, as it is a very controversial organization, but do you know exactly what this so-called "church" teaches?

It's hard to find an exact place to start explaining the beliefs of the Westboro Baptist Church, as they are all equally shocking and mad. Basically, WBC thinks the USA (and, according to one of their sister sites, virtually every other nation in the world) is a sinful country and that all of its citizens are headed straight for hell. Moreover, the group rejects the foundation upon which Christianity is based -- the concept that God is love itself. According to them, God kills innocent people because of the sins of others. This is why wartime casualties occur. This is why lives are lost due to AIDS and cancer. And what more effective way to express these ideas than by verbally torturing the families of the deceased and telling people God hates them?

Apparently no one ever told the WBC that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. I mean, they are free to believe whatever they choose to believe, but do they honestly expect to gain followers when they act insane? If somebody demanded that you do something because you'll go to hell if you don't do it, would you feel compelled to listen? Maybe you'd feel afraid, but acting like you agree with someone out of fear is not the same as actually agreeing. And most people think the WBC is just plain crazy. Seeing as humans were created in God's image and are therefore capable of reason, I think that if the majority finds something to be true, it probably is the truth. To deny that would be denying human dignity and therefore denying the way God created the world.

Even if you do think something like homosexuality is a sin (in which case I completely disagree with you), the goal of human beings is not to punish sinners, but to help them to change for the better. I personally think the WBC contains some of the most immoral people on earth, but if one of them died, I wouldn't protest at his funeral. That would accomplish nothing.

One of the many problems if the Westboro Baptist Church is that it focuses too much on the negative. Forget about all the good people in the world -- the billions of people who practice charity, honesty, and kindness --  they only care about damning the "bad" ones. They pay no attention to the parts of the Bible that speak of loving one's neighbors and instead spend their valuable time trying to cite every example of God's rage ever mentioned in the Old Testament. Shouldn't a truly moral Christian follow the teachings of Jesus himself and spread love rather than hate? Call me crazy, but I have a feeling Jesus would not support the WBC.

I have not spoken to a single classmate yet who supports the Westboro Baptist Church, which is good because that means I go to school with people who are not total wackos. I've heard a lot of angry reactions, which is to be expected. But you know what? While it is impossible not to feel some rage over this, let's not try too hard to actively fight the WBC. After all, if you argue with a fool, you're a fool. Instead, let's just laugh in their faces.

 

First image taken from official WBC site, second and third courtesy of Buzzfeed.com.

To learn more about the Westboro Baptist Church, go to their official website at:

www.godhatesfags.com

Cyberbullying: Nobody's a Winner

Shortly after finishing my last post (the one on bullying), I made a trip to the library, where I checked out Jay Asher's novel Thirteen Reasons Why. Now, I know the purpose of this blog isn't to review books, but this story emphasizes the points I made on how much simple words and actions affect the lives of others. Basically, the book tells about a high school girl and the little things that ended up leading to her suicide. It's a great read, and I highly recommend it.

Today, I would like to dive deeper into the bullying theme and focus on a more specific breed of cruelty -- cyberbullying, something that is way too prevalent these days.

In March, a fourteen-year-old boy in Jersey City was finally arrested for harassing two-twelve-year-olds on Facebook because he thought they liked his girlfriend. In addition to childishly calling them names, the bully talked about killing one of the boys in an incredibly violent manner. Now, I'm not sure what exactly the relationship between these boys was, but nothing the younger boys did could possibly make them deserve such sickeningly graphic death threats.

A more famous example of cyberbullying is the case of musician Rebecca Black. Don't misunderstand; I'm not telling people to stop saying that her song 'Friday' is terrible because it totally is. Besides, it was Rebecca's choice to go into show business, and any entertainer should be prepared for negative feedback. However, some online commenters have gone beyond criticizing Rebecca's music and begun to target the singer herself, saying things like, "I hope you cut yourself," and "I hope you get an eating disorder so you'll look pretty." This behavior is completely unacceptable. Nobody should ever fall victim to words like these.

The problem with cyberbullying is that nobody's a winner. Even if the bully doesn't get punished for his actions, he still doesn't benefit from making others miserable. Being a jerk doesn't make a person look 'cool.' Honestly, that's just common sense. But, to quote Yggdrasill from Tales of Symphonia (seriously the best video game EVER), "That is merely logic. People are not moved by logic." (And yes, that is where I got this blog's title.)

Pictures are from the University of Alabama website and Chris Kasurak, respectively.

Check out the following wesites:

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Teen-Accused-of-Cyber-Bullying-.html 

http://thetartan.org/2011/3/28/forum/rebecca_black