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.