A Dancing Drop of Blood on Main Street Raises More Questions than Answers

Last night, we went to a Christmas "walk" - what turned out to be a really neat little thing where the city of Nashua turned several blocks of its downtown into an open walking space, and there were bands and street vendors and ice sculptures, and shops and churches open for visitors (e.g. classical concerts both in a church and in a bank).

The bad news is that one of the first things we saw there was a drop of blood - or some guy (or gal) in a drop-of-blood costume, prancing around Main Street, waving to people (people didn't seem to want to go hug it or shake hands, for whatever reason). I quickly assumed that that very savory mascot was probably representing the American Red Cross, encouraging people to give blood, and there was probably even a donation station nearby.

When Ian saw the dancing blood-drop, at first he was confused. When I explained that the costumed figure was attempting to portray a drop of blood, confusion turned to horror.

I tried to explain to him the likely cause behind the jolly blood-drop, and give some context about blood donation, but he "still didn't get it", and there were other things to look at on Main Street.

However, when we got home, he revisited the question of why a drop of blood would be out frolicking at the Christmas event, so I re-attempted an explanation, going into some detail to provide a concrete scenario where a person is involved in a gruesome car accident, for example, and they're so badly wounded that they lose a great deal of blood, and their blood-level is so low that they might die if they dont' get more blood, but luckily for them, this organization has been getting people who have more than enough blood to let some nurse take a little bit out of their arm with a needle so that they can put that blood into the body of the injured person who might otherwise die.

When I mentioned people who are sick, Ian volunteered, "I'm not healthy, Daddy. I eat chocolate, I don't each much fruits and vegetables..."

I explained that the situation of people requiring donor blood is rather worse than that.

I then re-cycled through the hypothetical drama where someone needs blood immediately, but this organization has been gathering blood from people who gave up a little extra, so they have enough blood for the person in critical condition.

Finally: "I still don't get it, but I think it's disgusting."