I don’t know which country you’re from, but in the US, there is a very good reason they no longer pay people for blood donations. They used to. But, they found that having it be donation based plays on people’s guilt, and they are far more likely to donate when they feel guilty or empathetic or like a hero or whatever emotion gets you up and out to the donation center.

On the other hand, when they pay you for it, people tend to ignore it, because the average person doesn’t really need the money, and since it has become a business transaction, they don’t have to feel guilty about not participating. Donation rates are much higher when the donors aren’t paid. They don’t lack funds; they lack donors, and this was a quick, easy solution to the problem.

For sure. They feed it to us here in the US pretty much every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Exactly!

I think it’s that you don’t feel older mentally. I though I would feel a certain maturity once I reached an age where I had a solid, advancing career and owned a house. Turns out, I feel pretty much the same and am just better at dealing with things that arise and pretending that I’m mature. My body hurts more and my face looks older, but I don’t feel all that different. I’m sure I’ve mentally changed to some extent, and I notice it more when I talk to younger people, but I still feel the same.