I was asked to use my insulin pen in the bathroom of a restaurant today. I eat at this restaurant for lunch one per week for the past 3 years. usually I sit at a corner booth and I discreetly inject under the table cloth.
Somehow today was different. The waiter came and asked me to use the bathroom.
Anyone who has seen the mythbusters’ episode on fecal particles in the bathroom realize that it is possibly the most unsanitary place in a restaurant. Why should I have to inject while sitting on the toilet like a heroin addict? It is certainly more sanitary to do this outside.
This is the first time I’ve been asked to go to the bathroom… I felt angry. How do you guys handle this situation?
I agree with YOU! I work in a restaurant and have for years! I have seen lots of things but have never noticed anyone give an injection and if I did I wouldn’t EVER suggest they do that in the bathroom…I inject myself at the table when I go out to eat and like you I try to be very discreet…If someone sees me they shouldn’t be watching lol… I don’t blame you for being angry and personally I don’t think I could have held my tongue!! IF you choose to go back, I would ask to speak to the manager and If this is a “chain” I think I would write a letter to the corporate office…It really sounds like discrimination to me. Perhaps we can all bombard them with emails LOL
As a customer and a restaurant employee I think I’m more offended by people yapping on cell phones than a person trying to manage diabetes…
BTW, did the waiter take it upon himself to tell you to do that in the bathroom?
I would have been very upset!!! Honestly, I would have been “P’d” Off!!! How could he fix his mouth to even ask you to take your shot in the bathroom??? Before I started Podding (omnipod) I always gave myself a shot at a resturant table and I refuse to go to the bathroom. When I was prego I always gave myself an injection in the car because my belly was so big! If I were you I would file a complaint and I would talk to the manager…GRRRRRR
It’s never happened to me, although I have anticipated it happening. It’s not likely to happen now that I’m a pumper, but here’s how I imagined it going.
Waitperson: Sir, you’ll have to do that in the bathroom.
Me: No, I don’t. Let me speak to the manager, please. (continue injecting, don’t engage in an argument)
I figured by the time the waiter got the manager to come over I would be done, all my stuff would be packed away and I could ask for a new waiter. If the manager told me to leave, I’d ask him if he’d ever heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act and then leave.
But reality is often different than the way we imagine it, so I don’t know what really would have happened. I guess I would be pissed. No, I’m pretty sure of it. I’m also sure I would have complained loudly about the cockroaches in my booth . . .maybe say something about the Health Department . . .
Without giving a free pass to the restaurant . . . I do ask my friends and company if they mind the needle or the test meter. If they do then I go out to the car and do my thing. I realize that not everyone has as car or it maybe a long walk back to the garage. And that is the case I ask them to turn their heads. I am not ashamed of my medical condition, I am just being courteous to others. I don’t do my injections in my bathroom so I would not do it and a restaurant’s bathroom either. The server was wrong and needs to educated, that we don’t inject ourselves for fun. Lastly I, would have had my meal and then left a coupon that they attend a diabetes education class.
Wow. This has never happened to me and I tend to pull out my pen anywhere I need to…although I think I’m being discreet, I don’t think I am at times and wonder if I get a bit too carefree with it. But it’s not like you’re pulling out a nasty looking mega syringe, the pens are pretty easy on the eyes.
I would ask for the manager, obviously the waiter needs some training. If unfortuantely, the management maintained this attitude, they would no longer have my business and if a chain I would take my complaint to the district level (and beyond if necessary).
Wow. I used to inject in the bathroom out of embarrassment. I am long over that nonsense, and in my seventeen years I have never been asked, harassed, or spoken to regarding my restaurant injections.
If I were you, I would have calmly informed the waiter what was going on, and that it is unsanitary to inject in the bathroom. I would have also mentioned how much I enjoy the restaurant and the service they provide
If the waiter wouldn’t listen, then I would have no choice but to knock over the table, and proceed to play syringe darts with the uncooperative waiter as my target. After my target has been well incapacitated, I would drag him into said bathroom and ask him to apologize to the entire diabetic community.
I see this as a simple conversation with the manager- If you would like me to eat here, I need to get insulin here. If you would like to get a tip then I need to eat here. Everything leads back to money…
The only time where I don’t have the option to be discreet was during long flights. I usually ask the person seated next to me if that would be a problem. I’ve never had anyone who had a problem with me using my pen.
I would react depending on how they asked. I would probably be totally pissed off. either way though. If you say no, really what are they going to do? Escort you out? not serve you? will be done in like two seconds anyway.
You could bad mouth them up and down or not go there, get up and leave and not pay that would be fun. Drop kick them? Shake them up a little, just kidding.
If it is the manager, I’d take my business elsewhere. If it is a customer, ignore it. If they don’t want to see stuff, why are they staring at you? As it is a waiter, ask him if he has a Medical license. Man…
Don’t bother. Let it go and if it happens again cite your own privacy rights and ask them politely to get a life.
One of the first things my son taught me as a diabetic was that no apologies are needed, you shoot wherever you are. If out in opublic with people who don’t know me I always ask if they mind if I shoot my insulin. The answer is always the same, “Of course not, go right ahead”. I can’t imagine that any other restaurant patrons minded in the least.
WOW… amazing …but I’m not surprised the owner didn’t do it himself…I can say there is one thing privately owned restaurants hate more than anything; bad press…especially in these hard times!! What a story…a letter to the local newspaper or local TV news station…I bet there are tons of (pardon me for saying this…) elderly people in Fla who also happen to be diabetic and would be more than willing to offer support…I think I would also call the local heath dept and find out if there is a policy against insulin injections in restaurants; if there are, they should be clearly posted.
