I always think that, like me, even people who’ve checked the back of their driver’s license are naturally compelled to hoard their kidneys, at least as long as they’re alive. I’m pretty sure that I would only willingly part with a kidney if someone I really (really) loved needed it — and asked nicely — but even then, that kidney would be donated begrudgingly. Then, forever after, every single time I saw whoever got my kidney at, say, barbecues, I’d make sure to steer the conversation to “this one time when I gave away a kidney,” and if we were invited to the same potlucks, I’d always bring a big vat of kidney beans as a “subtle” reminder of how dead he would be without me. I think we can all agree that that’s what organ donation is all about.
Except not for everyone, apparently, because — and you can imagine my surprise — this week’s New Yorker has a story about show off-y types who spend their time trying to make the rest of us look bad by giving their kidneys away to anybody who asks. (Granted, the people who ask are dying of kidney failure but stop getting mired in the details.) Via a site called MatchingDonors, they find people who are too lazy or just can’t be bothered to hack kidney disease and they volunteer to give these people — whom they’ve never met — one of their own kidneys.
The point is, knowing this puts a totally different slant on this question because these people are doing this for FREE. I almost (almost!) felt kind of slightly barely bad for suggesting it was something I’d have to be a paid a million dollars for, and not even then. But then I felt fine. Because I realized we’re all different. These people have their strengths (altruism, selflessness) and I have mine (wearing headphones even when I’m not listening to music so people at work won’t talk to me; eating brunch), and I realized, maybe we’re not so different after all.
