Posted by
Donnialda
20 yrs ago
Recently I went to purchase an address book. In the place under e-mail address entry there was a line to list the person's Blood Type. Same in the datebooks: name, address, phone, blodd group!
What is THIS about?
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A lot of people in Asia believe that a person's blood type reveals a lot about their personality, and so are interested in knowing everyone's type. In Korea for example, a couple of years ago there was a movie called "My Boyfriend's a Type B."
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TC
20 yrs ago
It also has relevance when/if you are looking for a donor. Someone in your address book is likely to be a friend who might consider donating blood in the event of an emergency falling on you. And it would save time trying to find a match - possibly crucial time (provided that your address book is accessible at the time). I haven't heard the story about Asians being interested in your blood group (I've never come across it in >40 years of living in and around the region) but it wouldn't surprise me unduly.
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There is a kooky "diet" based on blood groups doing the rounds. Perhaps it's for "believers" so they can arrange dinner parties by blood group!
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TC: In over 40 years in and around Asia you have never come across this!? You must have a very sheltered existence…
It is mostly a Japanese thing, but has spread to some other places (mostly those with a Japanese influence, like Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc.). Basically it is the belief that personality traits can be extrapolated from a person’s blood type (ketsu eki gata in Japanese). Think of it as an equivalent to astrology/horoscope in Western cultures – no scientific basis for any connection between your blood type/star sign and your personality/fortune, but people like to talk about it nonetheless.
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TC
20 yrs ago
So I have a very sheltered existence because I haven't lived in Japan or other places with a strong Japanese influence? I beg to differ m'lud.
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cd
20 yrs ago
I thought O was the most common blood group, so why would being the last one be a bit difficult for you? And B the least common, about 10% of the population.
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Errr, not exactly without risk, especially if you have lived in the UK or France for a cumulative total of more than three months in the last 26 years. The blood transfusion service will not accept your blood. Forget AIDS, CJD appears to be the latest deadly disease to fear as apparently it can remain dormant and undetected in your blood for more than 20 years, and then flare up if transfused into someone else. It must be serious for the Hong Kong Red Cross to shun potential donors the way they do nowadays. At one time they would take only O neg blood from Brits and French (no ther blood type), or people who had lived in those countries at some time, but not any more.
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raincatcher,
I'd say the other people seem to know more of the background than I do. My first exposure to any interest in my blood group outside of a blood donor clinic was while I was teaching in Korea. Pretty much every adult student asked me my blood type, and said many people used to set a lot by blood type. At least in Korea, some people still do, though it seemed most people I knew were maybe slightly more interested in blood type than most westerners are in astrological sign- an interesting bit of small talk, but not much else.
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etnad
20 yrs ago
Hi donnialda, I'd agree with Tc, the relevance of a blood type entry in your address book is intended for use as source of possible blood donors in such emergency cases.
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