“Are you going with me on Monday?” The question from Jonas, my neighbor, last night when we were talking about the garden fence, came suddenly. So suddenly that I first had to ask where I was going. “To donate blood” was the quick answer. And then Jonas tells me that tomorrow he’s going to donate blood for the 100th time. That his blood donation would then be reported in the local section of the newspaper of the newspaper. With photo! In this way, the local newspaper supports World Blood Donation Day. With the release of regular blood donors from the region. Although of course he doesn’t donate blood because of the newspaper, but so that others can live, even survive. Yes, no, of course!
Bad feeling
Blood – some people get dreaded just thinking about it and their knees are shaky. I also know this somewhat dull feeling in the stomach area: When the doctor’s assistant mercilessly pushes the needle into the crook of my arm and a few seconds later the juice of my life flows into a plastic sack – I get strange. That’s why I never look. But somehow it’s also something completely normal.
Seat of the soul
People of the past centuries dealt with blood very differently than we do today. We know from the Bible that two or three thousand years ago the Israelites believed that the soul was in the blood – that which defines the individual in a person. Therefore, even then, pious Jews were not allowed to come into contact with another person’s blood. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why the biblical Joseph was not slain by his brothers, but sold as a slave to Egypt. Just don’t come into contact with your brother’s blood! In these ancient ideas of the Bible there is also the reason why Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse blood transfusions to this day, and even strictly avoid foods containing blood. Blood sausage? No thanks! Taking in the soul of another person or animal – that’s not possible for Jehovah’s Witnesses. By the way: for other Christian groups that interpret the Bible literally, of course not either.
14. June 1868
While my mind goes for a walk, Jonas continues to talk to me. That the World Blood Donation Day has only been around since 2012, but it has been a lot
started donating blood earlier. Back when he was in the armed forces, there was an emergency. Mass collision on the highway! It was then that he volunteered to donate blood for the first time. With 0 rhesus positive he is something of a universal blood donor.
I admit I’m not listening to him that closely. That’s why I have to look up the name he gives me again: Karl Landsteiner – he only discovered in the first place that there are different blood groups. That was in 1868. On June 14th. So it’s no wonder that this date advanced to World Blood Donation Day. “Be there for someone else. Donate blood. Share life “- that was the motto of the World Blood Donation Day a few years ago, Jonas continues cheerfully. This year it reads: “Donate blood and keep the world going!”
Keep the world going
You already guessed it: Jonas and I have made an appointment. Tomorrow we will go to donate blood together. I too want to keep the world going. With my blood. Why not? A good thing. We wouldn’t have to do that tomorrow, of all days, we could pass on our lifeblood on other days. But tomorrow is world blood donation day. The story of the local newspaper, which will report on Jonas’ 100th blood donation, is important for Jonas. Promoting blood donation is always good, he says. Because of me. I will get over the fact that the newspaper won’t report on my blood donation. After all, it’s my first. But in the end Jonas and I go about donating blood with the same idea: to save other people’s lives with our own blood. Maybe you will be there too? You now have at least one more day to prepare for it. And if you don’t go tomorrow – go on another day. And keep the world going.
Snapshots, short episodes in the media, fleeting impressions – and everything just rushes by? “That too” shows the scripts (slightly revised) broadcasts from public and private broadcasting. Some were even written specifically for Heaven On Air. True to the motto: just pause for a moment.
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