Karma Cleanser - May 04 2005
?Dear Karma Cleanser:
?I have the rarest type of blood, the type that the blood banks are always in need of. Last week there was a blood drive at my office and I signed up to donate. When it came time to fill out the questionnaire, I lied. I’ve been in a monogamous relationship with my (male) partner for three years. The American Red Cross would not accept my blood if I admitted that I’d had sex with a man since 1977. Considering that I was born in 1978, I guess my chances of donating blood are rather slim.
Should I feel bad about lying on the questionnaire?
Obviously the blood is going to get screened before it’s ever given to a patient, and I also know for certain that I am disease free. I consider this my personal protest against a discriminatory policy. I just want to make sure there’s no cosmic backlash against dishonesty.?
— Bleeding Liberal
Though you obviously have the best of intentions at heart, you’re tackling a subject that’s plenty prickly (pun intended). Lying on the donor survey is not the best way to get a policy changed, and it only mires you in an ethical mud hole. A quick Google search will hook you up with any number of activist groups fighting homophobia and inequality in all its forms.
Dear Karma Cleanser:
?My former drug dealer won’t stop calling my phone. I haven’t made a?purchase from him in about 12 months; during this period I’ve made a?real point of staying away from the candy (for the most part). This?guy was nice enough to hook me up a few times and he made a few?attempts to hang out with me beyond the sales calls. I never saw it as?anything other than a business relationship.
My girlfriend now says that this guy’s calls are God’s way of telling?me it was wrong for me to use drugs (back when I was using a lot) and?contribute to a corrupt system of trafficking. She says it shows that?I need to do something to make up for the past. Is she full of crap or?what?
?— Hang Ups
The dealer dude is calling you for one of two reasons: He wants you?back as a customer or he genuinely wants to be your friend. Either way?you’re obviously not in the market for what he has to offer. It’s not?bad karma so much as it’s bad manners on his part. Tell your?girlfriend to let the past lie, and tell your dealer that his?persistence is starting to seriously freak you out.