Monday, February 24, 2014

Miss Manner's Comment

The recent Miss Manners article listed below at the link or the bottom of the page.http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/miss-manners-future-grandchild-is-worth-chilly-reception-at-shower/2014/02/04/470657d0-8a98- This brought me back to my recent issues last year. I know last summer a Coworker told me to never test my blood sugar in public because she get faint from the sight of blood but the interesting things is that I had my fingers under the table and was testing so she had to be looking to see me test. That day I had been low three times before lunch and I needed to eat to get my blood sugar to stay above 80. I know I was so astonished and still am that her sister died of Type 1 several years back but her excuse was that her sister always did it in another room. I have spent most of my life hiding my diabetes to make everyone more comfortable. I am at the point in my life where I am unable to deal with added stress of worrying about what others need because regardless of what I do I seem to upset everyone. I know when I reading the response from miss manners about going to a dirty airplane bathroom is not acceptable. I know with my diabetes being so fragile I get so disoriented by the time I would get to the bathroom they would have a real mess on their hands if I went low. I do everything is the most discrete manner but I test in the grocery store in the aisle, on the bus, I know my blood sugars with having hypoglycemia Unawareness can go from okay to dangerous in minutes. I know as I was reading this advice expletives were running through my head endlessly because this is the kind of advice.

I know I have experienced so many negatives from discrimination to just plain ignorance two years ago I allowed myself to only care about what I need and everyone else can wait or just deal with it. If they get faint they can turn their head or leave the room. I am tired of having to explain myself or accommodate everyone else who does not have a medical condition. I am at the point I just need first and foremost take care of me because no one else is going to do that for me. I know I tend to not always worry about myself enough but the recent changes the past two years has kept me safe. When I travel with Duchess when she alerts I test. I have never heard one complaint the whole time I was traveling. I get questions which I gladly answer. I think having Duchess also tends to attract more laid back people. Which creates less issue of me when I need to test. I know with getting disoriented very quickly I have only one choice and that is to test when and where I am at. I try my best to hide the blood because I know that can upset others but I will not test other places. I think the first and most important thing is our safety as diabetics. Each person is different and I feel this article is the worst advice I have have ever read.












DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am a businessman who frequently flies both domestically and internationally. I also happen to be an insulin-dependent diabetic.
I currently do my glucose testing in my seat. It does involve using a lancet device to get a drop of blood to test, but is fairly unobtrusive. Of course, all lancets, alcohol preps and test strips are stored in my test kit for proper disposal later.
Am I being rude to perform this test next to a stranger? Injections I perform privately in the plane’s lavatory. In the airport, I use the counter by the wash basin, since most water closets have no room for insulin vials and other supplies.
Many people seem to stare and resent the fact of performing such a function in this space. I have also had children ask, “What is that man doing? Isn’t that a bad thing?” (They’re obviously thinking of their drug education classes.) Am I too self-conscious?
GENTLE READER: Absent an emergency, medical applications (like bodily functions and grooming) are properly done out of sight — meaning in private or in a restroom — unless they can be done so surreptitiously as to be unrecognizable as such. Miss Manners does not object to a pill taken at dinner, so long as it is not accompanied by a dissertation on your cholesterol.
The technology associated with diabetes is fast approaching this standard, although Miss Manners draws the line at drawing blood. Restrooms exist to provide a proper location for such necessary activities when away from home, and those who use them have no business monitoring the respectable, if sometimes unaesthetic, activities of others.
You may chose to tell children that it is a medical procedure, or ignore them and let their parents do that. Miss Manners would hope that any parents present would also resolve to teach their children to be more discreet with their curiosity.
New Miss Manners columns are posted Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays on www.washingtonpost.com/advice. You can send questions to Miss Manners at her Web site, www.missmanners.com.

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