This week, ARUP will conduct blood drives on campus, offering students, faculty and staff opportunities to give blood at various locations during most of the day.

Blood drives are frequent occurrences on campus. ARUP signs and big vans are often seen on campus and their spots are heard on radio stations.

Like the elderly lady next door, ARUP blood drives present an almost constant occasion for a good deed, a selfless choice that makes a big difference to somebody else.

And like an elderly neighbor who just enjoys a visit, blood drive services are so simple that one never consciously schedules them into a busy day. The psyche conjures a comforting thought, such as, “I’ll get to it-today’s just not a good day for it.”

When one considers that a simple pinprick and a few minutes in a chair can really save a life, excuses pale by comparison.

Realizing no surplus of blood exists on occasions when you “Don’t feel like it,” excuses just don’t cut it.

There is no legitimate reason why someone should not give blood.

Perhaps blood drives would be more effective if people could see patients in emergency and operating rooms who need the blood. This isn’t practical, but it doesn’t change the fact that those people are really there.

The radio spots do a good job pointing out patients who are in need of your blood and may not have been injured yet.

Therefore, it is possible that your friend or family member may be among the injured.

The only thing sweeter than the cookie they give you at the end is the feeling that you have done something truly noble.