So this amused me, and I thought there are odds and ends of things that happen that can cause a smile or a roll of the eyes. I thought I’d share this as I thought it was funny.
I’m sure many of you have some stories that will make us all smile or roll our eyes too!
I always like to smile!
I grabbed my phone and glasses and headed towards our bonus room to ride my exercise bike. My husband speaks up and asks are you going high. I said no, I’m at 102. He then asked why are you getting on the exercise bike then. I told him I wanted to either drink some Kombucha or eat some pineapple and instead of taking some insulin I thought I would get on my bike.
He then goes, but you’ll drop too low then and have to eat something. I go that’s the point, I want some Kombucha and pineapple. He then shook his head at me and said but you already rode your bike why do you want to again? I said because I can and it’s better for me than just taking some insulin.
I had a big smile on my face at that point! He has paid some attention to what I do!
Terry’s recent story reminded me of a precious moment some 15 or so years ago when I was to meet the manager of my Shanghai operations in people’s park downtown on a Saturday morning to enjoy a nice leisurely lunch of local street food with her. She was always so punctual, actually early, a rare phenomenon for any Chinese, that I pre-bolused knowing she would arrive any moment. She did not arrive on time that day and I was chatting with other locals in the park not even thinking of the time until I realized I was starting to sweat and get really shaky so I sat down at a fountain knowing she would arrive very shortly. Time continued to pass and I forgot my back up snacks as there is food everywhere in Shanghai so did not think of bringing any along.
She finally arrives and notices I am on the verge of passing out and reaches into her bag for some candies she always keeps as an emergency supply for me. She takes some out of the bag, extends her arm and hand out to give them to me. Being in such a daze I did not react and just stared pensively at her hand. Within about 10-15 seconds a crowd surrounded her and started screaming at her that she was a disgrace to all Chinese society as it is against 5000 years of Chinese culture to beg from a foreigner.
Someone took a picture and after she finally got some sugar into me and I was coherent we all had a good laugh. It certainly did look like her extending her hand out to me was a request for money, not an effort to save me.
A son of Swiss immigrants, my paternal language is French, and my maternal language is German. I learned English in school and subsequently other languages including Mandarin Chinese. Reading Terry’s moving account, I realize that I would never reach anywhere near his level of eloquence, yet thought the story of my hypoglycemia event may brighten someone’s day.
There are some days in our diabetic lives we just never forget.
I think the complexity of our analyses and the nuance in our treatment choices evades the observation of most people. Sometimes we need to think two or three events ahead.
Congrats to your husband on his careful observations!
I didn’t know this. This is the kind of insight that makes travel Interesting.
I find it unusual that a colleague would be so capable of understanding and giving aid. I guess it helps to be the boss! It also means your willingness to share some details about diabetes rewarded you in that incident.
I believe that we constantly instruct the the world how we want to be treated. Often the world doesn’t hear or care. Sometimes the world listens to us and takes our instructions to heart. Nice story.
This just happened to me at the hospital. I had ordered my lunch when the tech came to take me to get an echocardiogram.He told the food person to just bring the food to the room where I was getting the echocardiogram The tech was a simply wonderful 62 yr old man who was very good at his job. He knew that I was a diabetic and would need to eat. I can’t remember if I had given my shot yet or not.
When the food came in the middle of the exam, he stopped everything and brought my food to me and ate the tomatoes I offered him. We had a great time talking and eating.
This happened shortly after my horrible experience collapsing during the treadmill test. When the echocardiogram was over, the tech whispered in my ear that everything looked great to him. I wasn’t supposed to tell anybody though, so I didn’t tell anyone except my husband. Since I didn’t get the official report for another 5 hrs, I was very happy that the tech shared what he saw with me.
He really made my day.
This man was absolutely one of the kindest human beings I have ever met.
