Our Child's First Toy

One thing I have learned about my stay in New York is that the rumors are true: New Yorkers are loud, unclean, and extremely rude. I've been all around the United States and I can say that without a doubt the rudest people are in New York. Whether they are white, black, brown or green, the New Yorker is, in general, a very rude and uncaring species. Having said that, I must say that I had to put my foot in my mouth the other day, as I was proven that once again, you cannot generalize an entire people into a category.

Naomi and I were running out of clean clothes and we had to do laundry. Laundromats are a dime a dozen in New York since nobody can have a washing machine at home (apparently). Another interesting fact is that since I met Naomi I have never seen her do any laundry, so I end up doing it all. I don't mind. I get a weird sense of satisfaction out of cleaning things (Yes, it's my anal side). I was sitting at the laundromat while Naomi was sleeping in the car. I was watching as the clothes were going round and round and waiting patiently for the rinse cycle to finish. Suddenly a man walks through the door. Big man, in his early sixties. He changed some bills into quarters and headed towards the crane machine in the corner. I have to be honest, I have never been able to win at these crane machines, and I don't usually try as I see it as a waste of money. This specific machine took fifty cents per try. I couldn't help but look at the man as he played the game. Time and time again, he won. I was shocked. He played probably around ten times, and won seven. As he left the premises with all his stuffed animals I couldn't help but to share my amazement.
"Wow, you're good" I said.
"Yeah, thanks...." he snickered at me.

He left and I stayed watching as the clothes went into the spin cycle now. A few minutes later he came back. He had more money with him. I went to the machine to see him play and I wished him good luck. Again, he played a few times, winning more than half of the time, sometimes even double prize.

"So, what do you do with all those toys?" I asked him.
—I give them to charity...
—That is very kind of you.
— yeah, well, we give them to this orphanage... you see, my wife, she has a business where she embroiders things, so we go to the orphanage and we tell the kids who wants them and she... she puts the name of the kid on the toy and then we give it to them. Sometimes for Halloween, or Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I nodded with joy as he told me the story.

"I think that is a very kind gesture." I finally added when he was done.

He walked out of the laundromat and I put all the clothes into the dryer. When they were done, I walked out and put everything in the trunk of the car. I noticed that the man had parked next to me. He signaled for me to come over.

"Check this out." He said as he opened the sliding door to his minivan. On the backseat, there were at least 20 toys, sitting placidly as if happy to go for a joyride. "All these are going to charity... except for the dragon. That one is for my grand daughter—Do you have any little ones?"

I smiled candidly and shook my head. "No. Not yet" I turned to Naomi who was still sleeping and said "but we're expecting!".

The man smiled and pointed at the toys. "Pick one. For your little one... Except the dragon." I looked around and there were all sorts of stuffed animals. Some were good quality, some were pretty bad. I chose a little puppie that looked fit for an infant. "This one!" I said with pride as I took the puppie from within the stuffed animal bundle. The man looked at me and smiled. I didn't know what to say.

As the man backed out and left, I noticed he had a Puerto Rico flag hanging from the rear view mirror. I waved as he pulled out and into the avenue. I don't think he saw me.

Organ Donation Clashes with Religion and Stupidity

Aside from Skin cancer awareness, the most important issue to me is organ donation. I can't begin to comprehend why on earth people would refuse to donate their organs and [probably] save lives in the process. According to most studies, (there is an important one published by Reuters coming from Bristol, UK) over 70% of the people that refuse to donate organs are minorities, and the primary reason given for not donating is... you guessed it—religion. Let's face it, some religions are way more stupid than others, and especially the ones that prohibit organ donation should stick it. However, when one of these minorities needs an organ transplant, they have no problem putting themselves on the lists. From my perspective, this is leeching on to the system of rational intelligent people that actually care about other people and don't let stoneage beliefs dictate their actions today. My first idea was that organ donors could opt out from having my organs being donated to a minority simply because of statistics. People might argue that this is a racist position, and I would not be able to defend it. The truth is that even though the numbers point to minorities not donating, this obviously does not apply to everyone—and it would not be fair for a person that belongs to a minority that actually thinks and has his or herself as a donor. So, this is my idea, and I think that it has merit:

Idea 1: Make the system a donation system by default with an opt-out option. What this means is that if you are pronounced dead, your organs are immediately donated UNLESS you have specified that you wish to keep them. Let's face it. Many people have no problem with donating their organs, but are just lazy and never care to register on the program. By using this system, we would have people opting out instead of opting into the program. This way, the number of organs in banks would be much higher.

Idea 2: This idea I call tit-for-tat because it works just like that. I do not think it is fair that many people choose not to donate when everything seems to be going their way, but the minute they are the ones needing an organ transplant, they suddenly change their whole perspective. This is beyond hypocrisy, I know, but there is a way to fix it. With this system, in order to get on a list for organ transplant, you first must have had at least three years on the organ donation list. You can't really be diagnosed and then want to join the club. No. I think that only people that are willing to donate their organs when they die should be able to receive organs from other people that are willing to donate their organs when they die. That is why I call it tit-for-tat. If not being able to get an organ in case you need it, is not stimulating enough for you to sign up, then I dont know what is.

The idea of reciprocal organ donation is not supported by everyone, even if it sounds like the honest thing to do. In many cases it seems to me like religion gets a free pass (again) and is allowed to do anything. Here is a webpage in which someone asked the same question, and again you can tell that religion gets a free pass and it is "ok" to not donate for this reason. If your religion tells you that you cannot donate your organs when you die, then you should stick with it if you get sick. It is not fair to change your mind simply because you need it. There is no way of changing your mind if you die and find out that you religion is not true. To be fair, MOST religions do allow organ donation, and some are a bit undecided. For a complete list visit this link.

Blacklisted religions (religions that do not allow organ donation):

• Amish


• Christian Science


• Jehova's Witnesses


• Judaism (some groups do allow it, some don't)


• Latter day Saints (Mormons)


• Islam (depends on the particular islamic group)


• Pentecostals


• Evangelicals (some do, some don't)


• Shinto


• Quakers (some groups allow it, some don't)

There might be more religions that forbid it, since this is not an all-inclusive list. In any case, if your religion does not support organ donation, it is a safe bet that you are in the wrong religion.

Donate your organs, donate life.