People have discussed here testing and injecting at the table, and that’s not what I’m talking about when I say “restaurant weirdness,” because neither of those things is even remotely weird.
What modifications to your meal have you asked for that have caused waitpersons to look at you funny?
Ha! That’s awesome. I always get quizzical looks when I ask for less of something: no rice, no tortillas, no bun, less toast, hold the hash browns, no I don’t need fruit salad instead. Yes, I do know it costs the same. Yes, I do know it comes with it.
This one waitress gave me grief at a Perkins, because I only ate half their giant salad, and I didn’t add hardly any dressing to it, and because I had it with water, and didn’t want anything, even diet soda. She was making judgmental little jabs here and there… especially when I asked her for a doggy bag for the rest of the salad. lol From now on, I might start my order with "Now, I have Diabetes, so by no means am I trying to not get you a fatter tip by not ordering the most expensive, calorie dense dish on the menu… So… " lol
I haven’t experienced this too much as a new diabetic. I have only been to a few restaurants and I just didn’t eat certain thing on the plate (like at the Mexican restaurant I didn’t eat the rice or chips and either left them there or gave them to my friends that could eat them).
But in general, I am not new to the whole “restaurant weirdness” thing being a 20 year vegetarian/vegan - you have no idea what a pain in the butt it is to ask them to leave stuff off etc etc. I have been dealing with it for 20 years. It is getting better being a veg in a most restaurant now but 20 years ago it was almost impossible not to get in an arguement with the waiter/waitress. I don’t understand why they care if you leave things out? They should be happy it is saving them money!
Pretty soon, I will start to experience the “no bun” thing I am sure. 
Which doesn’t mean they will listen to me - even when I have asked them to leave things off for veg reasons - they often still don’t do it. One time I ended up with meat in my veg dish - I had stomach cramps for 3 days after only one bite. Grrr…
My goodness. You ARE a good customer. My old roommate was a popular waitress, and she had several customers take her out to dinner before she moved to another city.
When I lived in Guatemala and asked for things “sin azucar” (without sugar) they always looked at me strangely as if they wondered if my Spanish was off and I meant “extra sugar”. Guatemalans LOVE their sugar!
In addition to two years in Guatemala I lived five years in the boonies in the mountains of N. California (yes, there are “boonies” in California!). So now that I’m back in the Bay Area it’s a pleasure to be somewhere that is used to vegetarians, vegans, glucose intolerant, etc, so special orders seldom bring a glance. But eating out as a diabetic continues to boggle my mind. Last night me and a friend went out to a very nice restaurant to celebrate our 30 years of friendship. I was high for some reason before dinner (155) and my meal in addition to vegies was described as having polenta in the main course and dried cherries in the salad. So I bolused accordingly and when I got home I was 44! God I hated chomping on glucose tabs when my mouth was still enjoying the gourmet meal! We did share a bottle of wine where I normally only have a glass at home so maybe that contributed to the low. I jump up and down when I actually wind up in target after eating out and not either high or low.
I once had a cook come out to my table and ask me if I was sure that I didn’t want the brown sugar that they normally
put in their oatmeal because this was just so “odd”. “Yeah, I’m sure. I have diabetes and …” Even after my explanation she just kind of looked at me quizzically before leaving. I turned to my wife and said, “Apparently they don’t have diabetes around these parts. Honey let’s move here!”
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I start out by saying “I’m a diabetic & can’t eat certain things” before I ask about ingredients in dishes & for substitutions. Gotten a raised eyebrow when I ordered wine after my “I’m a diabetic” spiel. One waiter asked if I was sure about not wanting rice because I’m thin. Yes, I’m sure, thanks.
My husband & I put ourselves through school in the restaurant biz, so we’re big tippers.
hehehe Just what I said I was going to decide to do… tell em all right off the bat that I have diabetes. You and I think so much alike. lol
Once and a while I get a soft serve cone, I tell them I only want about an inch above the cone.
They are perplexed that I want less for the same cost.
Duck is right.Tip well and be as nice to them as you would want to be treated, tell them upfront what you would like, and gerally no problems…They of course, unless I tell them I am a diabetic up front, which I rarely do… say " You do not need to be on a diet’" . I smile and say “Well, I watch what I eat . I am diabetic.” That ends the "Why"discussion and they will generally accomodate my wishes.
God Bless,
Brunetta
I love when I order from the low carb parts of menu’s or get a diet coke, ask for light syrup, or salad dressings, or ask if they have nutrition info availabe, and they tell me I shouldn’t worry about that cause I’m not fat. I’m always like since when do you have to be fat to worry about what you’re putting in your body.As far as they know I could have a food allergy( which in a sense I do …sugar.lol). I hate when wait people do this though because people around look at you suddenly like you have an eating disorder. I have waitressing experience too, and never asked customers why they wanted things done certain ways. Hell for all I knew they were OCD or something and that’s just how they did it. It’s like what happened to the customer is always right?( we all know it’s not true, but we should act like it is when in customer service.)
Okay, when I first read this discussion thread I immediately thought of the movie “Five Easy Pieces” with Jack Nicholson. There is a scene in there where he is in a diner and he wants a side order of toast and the waitress gives him a hard time. It is HILARIOUS! It’s one of my favorite movie scenes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wtfNE4z6a8
I am with Gerri and Crystal, I am a small person too and so many times I get stranges looks and comments when ordering a diet soda or tell them to hold something.
I also remember as a kid when my father (who is a T1) would order his meal and ask for them for his toast…dry or for the gravy on the side. The waitresses usually gave him an attitude and more often than not, they wouldn’t bring his order they way he requested it.
I only have a month living with D, and have mostly avoided going to restaurants. My wife, though you couldn’t tell it by looking at her, loves eating pizza. She kept asking to go out with me to a pizza place near our house, and I kept saying to her - why on earth would you torment me by making me go out with you and watching you eat pizza.
Finally, a few days ago, I read a post on Tu that said something like - it’s not the food that matters, it’s about going out and enjoying spending time with your family. So, after the 5th time in 7 days of her asking to go out with me for pizza, I finally agreed.
It’s just a little shop with a counter and a few tables. She ordered two enormous slices, and I got a diet dr. pepper. For 20 minutes straight we kept getting quizzical looks from the guys behind the counter as this 5’1", 110 pound girl scarfed down all that pizza, while I sat there next to her sipping a diet soda. I thought it was hilarious. Maybe if we do it a few more times they’ll get the nerve to ask me what the hell is going on.
Now, I am thinking of that scene in “Grosse Point Blanke” where John Cusack is arguing with the waitress about the “egg whites only” omelette and how its not “techically” an omelette because he didn’t want anything in it - and he has a gun pointed under the table at Dan Akroyds characters.
It’s the portions too though DanK! You can still have some pizza - you just can’t scarf down the whole things like your wife. I avoided restaurants at the beginning too - I have only been out to restaurants 3 times I think since DX 7 months ago (not mostly becuase of the food but lack of money too).
Even though they aren’t as good if you get a frozen one and have a food scale you cut piece that will weight the grams you want to be closer to a lower carb piece. That is what I did. Of course, piece was small but at least I got to enjoy some pizza. You could also use the portion size of your measurement frozen pizza to try to approximate a piece when going out - may not be an accurate but at least you will be able to share a meal with your wife when out.
Doing the food thing at restaurants is an art when you have D. But it is cool when you can master it.
Pineapple was my favorite fruit. I miss it. I cringe when I look at the carbs on the dried snacky pineapple fruit in the store. I wish I would have a low just so I could have some pineapple (or some orange juice!)
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Weird is good Duck!
Now I’m intrigued. Do you have a clip?
yeah, i know. going with the art metaphor - i can barely draw a straight line. i’ve had frozen pizza at home because it has the nutrition info there and it’s easy to measure out exactly how much i want, and it has nutrition facts. at restaurants it varies so much though! crust has different thickness, all the slices are different widths… i think i need to go out to more restaurants with other diabetics to get the hang of it, and all probably get some better menu substitution stories that way as well.
what do you guess for carbs for a “normal” slice of pizza from a 16" pie? about 30 grams?