Sleep Donation deals with a very particular set of conflicts that are unique in that they are both fantastical and relevant to events in the modern world. As people deal with real life epidemics, not just limited to disease, it is easy to find connections within the Sleep Donation landscape. Fear of disease is tremendously common and is explored in fiction in a number of ways. We have zombie films and vampire novels and apocalyptic pandemic games that all share the same web of fear; that this could happen to anyone at any time. Sleep Donation is no different. Although it would probably not be classified as horror, it takes advantage of one of humanity's most primal fears and exploits it to create an incredibly poignant narrative. The inability to fall asleep can act as a metaphor for almost any widespread terror: AIDs and ebola, assault and murder, food shortages and homelessness. They all rest in the vein of possibility. Just like the insomnia, they are all real and terrible threats.
I work in a Pier 1 Imports store and for the holiday season we are selling UNICEF cards. The idea is that for the cards we sell, all the money goes directly to UNICEF. One box equates 302 immunity-boosting vaccines. They send food and school supplies to children. Etc. Although I have tried to conduct research I cannot speak entirely to the ethics of UNICEF as an organization but from what I can tell they seem pretty clean. Where the money to make the greeting cards in the first place comes from if the money all goes straight to helping kids concerned me at first, but I would guess that they have a deal with a card company, and I would hope that the card company pays well for all the materials and work and art and glitter and ink that goes into making the cards.
And from this I can relate two things: the first is that, like in Sleep Donation, even if you are trying incredibly hard to do a good thing, it is extremely difficult to find out if the good things you are doing could have possible negative consequences. Does the glitter come from children forced to harvest micah? Will UNICEF actually be using some of our donations to support their anti out-of-country-adoption ideals and prevent children from finding real, loving families? Just like harvesting Baby A's sleep has negative consequences along with the good, so does real-life charity.
The second thing I can relate is that despite UNICEF's near-spotless reputation, it is damn hard to get people to buy cards. I have caught my coworker, Linda, taking customers by the hand and looking them in the eyes and expressing from the bottom of her heart, "Please help the children and buy a box of our UNICEF cards. You would be saving their lives. You could prevent them from dying." And although she has the highest card sale out of all of the associates, there are many who just do not want to hear it. Another coworker told me that a customer had conveyed to her that they used to buy the cards but stopped because the new designs were not glittery enough. So we have Linda, our resident Trish, pouring her heart out so our customers will buy a $12 box of cards, and many refuse to budge. And of course most have personal reasons. Maybe they came in for one thing and do not have the extra money. Not everyone is able to buy a box. Some people just have no use for holiday cards. But this is a relatable point within the book. Sometimes when there is no drawback, it can be tremendously hard to convince people to donate to a cause.
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