1DebY - I think you misunderstood. I am glad this topic was posted too... my response above was quoting John who called it "Yet another wa wa wa post" (which I interpret as calling this whole topic whiney). That's what I thought would discourage people from posting - ie, having the topic made fun of and called whiney - not the discussion itself.
Spock, you think my response was harsh?
Perhaps I've misunderstood JohnG's intention...?I had a friend who tended to say she had "low blood sugar" when she was hungry as some people do and I pretty much ignored it. Then one day I was in Costa Rica with her and her husband, me the Type 1 and her husband the Type 2. We had trouble finding a restaurant we agreed on and then the one we picked was crowded and the food was very slow in coming. Her husband and I had injected insulin and were nervous but ok; Tami on the other hand was breaking out in a sweat and shaky...hmmm.Sounds like maybe your mother in law and Tami were pre-diabetes and/or had reactive hypoglycemia. But yeah, people use the phrase like people say, "I was so depressed" when they are feeling down or "he's OCD" for someone a tad obsessive, though in the case of PWD it's nearly clinical! Sorry, rambling.
I do remember that insensitive guy at a restaurant saying loudly " I ate so much I have diadiadiabetes-hahahaha". I thought that was very rude not to consider he was in public. We can't fix those who are inconsiderate ones that just do not care about others or who are mean in their souls. I did not approach this man. I do not know his reasons for saying what he did but I know he was not worth my efforts given his attempt to be humorous to his companions.
Never bothers me. I cant control what other people think. We know because we live with it. If we didnt who knows what we will think. I am sure that "WE" have made comments about other types of things that irrite people who live with whatever the subject was. Friends I will correct if they say spomething wrong but others I just pay no attention. It is scary to think about how many people out there "know" that insulin raises your blood. I dont involve myself in those comments or situation.
I remember walking one day into the diabetes unit at the hospital I worked at. Hanging down from the ceiling were a series of sugar cubes attached on strings. I thought it was the most insensitive thing I had seen. I would have thought at least you could count on health professionals to have a little dignity. Who would think this was funny? What diabetic would want to be treated by these people?
IMO most non PWDs think of diabetes in sound bites, not thinking of the reality of an actual diabetic’s life.
Pumped, did you say anything about the cube display? I can have some patience with non-D non-healthcare workers being uneducated. But the uncaring and rather stupid things said by people in healthcare really steams me.
At the time I was there to assist with a procedure, not as a patient. I said something to the charge nurse but they seemed proud of the display. This was an inpatient floor (fairly short stays with probably not your regular health care providers), so I didn’t go beyond the nurse, but I have remembered it ever since.
I have a co-worker who has made the following comments:
1. While I was still on MDI, after an office event where the theme was holiday, sugar based foods, she turned to me and said, "Oh, I ate so much sugar I'm going to need your (she makes gesture mimicking injecting something into her arm.)
It stopped me dead in my tracks. I was speechless at the insensitivity. I had spoken openly with her about my health and how much hassle it was to monitor my BS 24/7. And all the secondary issues that would come up from time to time. For someone who has a fully functioning pancreas, who never has to think about every carb they put in their body, it was cold. She knew I was not indulging and why. If she was going to feel that bad, stop eating.
It took me a few weeks to put my head around it and think of a comeback that she might understand. But it went something like this: That's like saying you would dump someone out of their wheelchair just because your legs were tired.
2. When I went on my CGM and Omnipod, both of which are wireless devices, co-worker commented, "Yeah, now we can hack into her!" She has since said this to other people who were asking casually the devices I carry. She was proud of herself for seeing the "techie" angle to it, almost bragging about how smart she is.
I generally get annoyed by anyone that speaks authoritatively about something they clearly know nothing about, simply regurgitating things they've heard third-hand from other ignoramuses.
In contrast, I relish the opportunity to have an intelligent, knowlegable discussion with anyone about most anything.
Where the morons are particularly annoying when it comes to D is when the both think they know what they are talking about, and are telling me, the diabetic, what I should be doing. As if I just found out I'm diabetic from them or something, and need life-saving instruction.
While I wouldn't wish D on anyone, there was one guy who was insensitive and stupid (not just about D though). Anyway, his kid got Dx'd with type 1. The guy didn't have the 'nads to apologize and talk to me about it. I would have been glad to offer some tips, but...I guess he realized how stupid he was.
Oh My... These pictures gave me the idea of carrying pictures in my wallet (like grandparents do of their grandkids) Except mine would have pictures of swimmer/Olympian Dave Hall, ballerina Zippora Karz - you know to show then what diabetes looks like.
And...it is is-information like that is being discussed here that gets in the way of our career promotions, getting jobs, having access to driver's license etc...
I’m groaning in agony/empathy. I hope that child receives good care I spite of his/her environment. And the ego of their parents.
I know two other people with diabetes, a type 1 and a type 2. Both are fine with following basic Ada guidelines and are experiencing complications because they keep their numbers high to stay “safe.” But I’m the nut job who went out and got a pump and a cgm. And I speak blasphemous things like low carbing. And I must be insane for having an a1c of 6.2 as a result. From their reactions you’d think I was telling them to drink snake venom not bring down their bs. They only hear what their drs. Tell them. Someone else who has the condition (type 1) 24/7 and who reads a lot couldn’t know what they are talking about. Eye roll.
Sorry for the typos. Still mastering the iPad.
Those would be the correct pictures to show.
I was just having fun with the whole idea of what the general public thinks in answer to that question. It's my sardonic sense of humor...
I know. But I was thinking of having one of those picture wallets that cascade down a waterfall of photos of grandkids for the next someone says some stupid myth about diabetes.
I recall be told about a conversation that a colleague over heard. My dept head was saying that she would never promote me. Her reason was I obviously was not responsible, after all I had type 1 diabetes (she knew to say type 1 - no offense to the type 2's). She was complaining to the CFO. Funny thing is, the CFO was married to a person with type 1. Unfortunately my colleague couldn't hang around to find out what the CFO said in response.
OMG, what a double-edged-sword kind of story! On the one hand, disgusting (to the point of justifying -- no, in my mind requiring -- HR action), on the other, just delicious that the audience for the comment was in a position to know how factually and operationally wrong the comment was, and was someone with real power too (thereby minimizing the need for some HR response).
My hopes are this put the offending dept head under some watchful scrutiny w.r.t. your treatment.
As a little bit of brief background, I'm currently COO of a small tech company here in Silicon Valley. I've spent the last 15 years of my career climbing the ladder in both large (Hewlett-Packard) and smal businesses.
I say this to set the context for my understanding of the legal, ethical, and management issues that surround this sort of thing. What this person said would have resulted in some serious chit at HP, would have wound up on their performance evaluation that year, and would have probably doomed their career at HP in management.
Unfortunately, the smaller a company, the less protection there is from this sort of discrimination. To be actionable internally, it has to be actionable externally.
BTW, HP is one of the most D-friendly places I've ever worked.
Sorry this happened to you... did everything work out okay?
Everything worked out splendidly. This dept head is known for less than professional behavior towards employees. She won't deal directly with people of color, and she's resentful of longtime employees who have relationships with other depts. (this is a large agency 12,000+ employees. In the end - a few weeks later, I got a phone call from the Fire Chief, they wanted to steal me and aid that it would give the Fire Chief great pleasure to give my two weeks notice for me. If I had been the one who overheard the comment, I would have gone to the HR dept and the EEO dept. Didn't need to.
So glad it worked out well for you. I would have loved to have been that Chief!
Sounds like public sector, which to some extent explains why that supe is still there. In the private sector, a comment like that can easily get you fired.
Dave, a reply to statements below. Yeah public sector. There was no love lost between the fire chief and this "stupidvisor". From what I hear, no one way high up has noticed that the stupidvisor can't keep any employees very long. Oh well. I'm retired now and I can just sit back and enjoy the horror stories.
