“People with diabetes shouldn’t inject insulin publicly!”

[Hentor the Barbarian]

I am opening a new thread to try to allow the original thread to get back on course, and to see if others have opinions on the topic.

In this thread ( Atkins is stupid), Campion compared a diner at a restaurant who injected herself with insulin with drug users (describing her as “shooting up”), and described her as “icky.” He or she backpedaled, saying that what they were doing was “in poor taste,” but later finished with a nice post equating insulin injections with blowing one’s nose or adjusting one’s privates, and calling for those of us who have to worry about this to be “discreet” when we do it.

x-ray vision is a bit less ambiguous, calling us uncouth for not stepping away from the table. milroyj, in its inimitable style, takes it further by saying that we should not take care of personal needs in public and comparing insulin injection to changing a dirty diaper.

To all of these people, I offer a big hearty fuck you very much. My son had his onset of diabetes at three. All his life, essentially, (he is now 10) he has known a daily regimen of at least four blood testings and at least three shots per day. His diet is regimented, in terms of types and amounts of food that he must have at each meal. He is very good about not eating the party snacks at school kids bring for their birthdays (always bringing them home in a little baggie for “later”) and trades in his Halloween candy for little dollar store prizes from us.

When we go out to eat, we must check his blood first. After he eats, he gets an injection of Humalog, which is adjusted depending on his initial blood sugar level and how much he ate. To check his blood, we use a lancet that pricks his finger, yielding a drop of blood. We wipe this from his finger with a bit of napkin. He has a small kit with syringes, insulin and his tester. When we give him his insulin, we open the kit, lay it on the table, take out the little bottle of Humalog, take one of the syringes (they are about the size of a third of a pencil), draw up the insulin, and give him an injection in his arm. The risks associated with hyperglycemia are manifold, and we have to maintain close control, as it is called, to try to stave off these consequences as best we can.

Apparently, some people are so put off at staring at us while we do this, that we should step away from our table, go hide out in the bathroom, or take it somewhere else out of the public view.

You silly little selfish fuckers. Your inability to stop staring at our activities to prevent yourself from being disgusted, combined with your inability to have a small bit of understanding of the troubles that someone else has to go through on a daily basis, suggests to me that you are quite thoughtless, selfish and ignorant assholes. I will not have my son feel that he has to hide out of sight while he “shoots up” because he has diabetes. He is not in any way like a dirty diaper. We will be no more discreet than sitting at our own table, interacting quietly with one another. Take your nosiness and your disgust and shove it up your ass. Keep crying and I’ll come over and take a dump on your entrée. That’ll give you something to whine about.

[Qadgop the Mercotan]

I just wanted to assert that assuming standard techniques of testing and injecting are used, there should be no risk to the public from blood exposures when a diabetic pokes a finger and/or injects insulin.

So I'd like to try to take that issue off the table before this goes too far.

QtM, MD

[Odesio]

A hearty fuck you right back at'cha for being so inconsiderate of everyone else at the restaurant. I can't say I'm revolted by the idea of someone injecting a needle into their body but it's certainly an unusual site and there are some who are really squeamish about such things. Is it really so hard to use the needles elsewhere? If not the bathroom then why not the car before entering the restaurant or is this kind of thing so time sensitive that you've got to do it moments before eating?


Marc

[Hentor the Barbarian]

Originally Posted by MGibson

A hearty fuck you right back at'cha for being so inconsiderate of everyone else at the restaurant. I can't say I'm revolted by the idea of someone injecting a needle into their body but it's certainly an unusual site and there are some who are really squeamish about such things. Is it really so hard to use the needles elsewhere? If not the bathroom then why not the car before entering the restaurant or is this kind of thing so time sensitive that you've got to do it moments before eating?


Marc

It is very time dependent. As I explained, we have to do it moments AFTER he eats. We have found that even relatively brief delays result in increases in his A1C readings (a more global indicator of the degree of control that we are achieving, measured at his quarterly visits to the hospital).

Unusual sight? Sorry, not compelling. Squeamish? Well, I understand that there are ranges of comfort with watching an injection, SO DON'T WATCH. Damn, to actually see the needle on these particular syringes entering the skin, you'd have to be standing over our shoulder. They are about a quarter of an inch long.

So go about enjoying your meal, Marc. No worries, as long as you aren't leaning over my son's shoulder.

[Campion]

Hentor, seriously. I realize that I'm pounding my head against a wall at this point, but I'm apparently a glutton for punishment. It is disappointing and disheartening in a person with your usual class and style to misrepresent my position in so flagrant a manner. I realize that this is a sensitive subject for you, and that as a consequence your heart is leading your brain. My fault, for failing to tag sarcasm as such in a prior post? Okay, I'll take that. But, please, in the future, when you want to ascribe some position to someone so that you can pit the position, select another poster. I'm tired of it.

In short, Hentor, and respectfully: may I have that straw man when you're done with it? I would like to put it in my garden to scare away the birds.

[Ethilrist]

I need to take insulin within 15 minutes before I start eating, so, at decent restaurants, no, the car before entering the restaurant is not an option.

When I'm eating with friends for the first time I'll ask if they're squeamish about needles as I have some friends who wouldn't be able to eat after watching me take a shot.

I'm something of a heretic w/regards to needle safety in that I inject through my shirt into my stomach, so it's not like I'm standing up and dropping trou to take my shot.

Here's a little tip: If you're going to get grossed out by the sight of somebody at the next table taking a shot, there's this neat trick you can do. It's called "looking the other direction."

[Sauron]

I'm fairly certain Miss Manners, Emily Post and other etiquette gurus frown on on picking one's teeth at the table with a toothpick. If that's verboten, I think it would be an even greater trespass to perform medical procedures at the table.

If your son's diabetes is severe enough to need injections mere seconds after he eats, maybe going out to eat at a restaurant isn't the best option.

[Cheesesteak]

This is where both sides of the issue need to take a big step back and look at it from the other person's point of view.

Hentor, most of us do not have to deal with getting injected three times a day, and feel that injections are the sort of thing that you either get at the doctor. Seeing an insulin injection in the middle of a crowded restaurant is outside their experience and not the sort of thing they may be interested in when chowing down on some oysters. You deal with it daily and don't consider it out of the ordinary, they do.

Others... Hentor, and everybody else who deals with insulin has to inject it constantly, it's rude to expect them to run off and hide all the time. You don't like needles, look away for a few seconds and all will be back to "normal" soon.

[Kalhoun]

You are wrong, Hentor. No one is comparing your child to a dirty diaper. And guess what...you're probably embarrassing the hell out of him. He's going to wonder why you were so rude as to put him on public display. There is absolutely no need to parade his illness in front of people while they're dining. You want to raise public awareness? Schedule some time at school and talk to the students about it.

[Smeghead]

I guess my idea for a tableside circumcision business isn't going to go anywhere.

[x-ray vision]

Originally posted by Hentor the Barbarian (bolding mine)
To check his blood, we use a lancet that pricks his finger, yielding a drop of blood. We wipe this from his finger with a bit of napkin. He has a small kit with syringes, insulin and his tester. When we give him his insulin, we open the kit, lay it on the table, take out the little bottle of Humalog, take one of the syringes (they are about the size of a third of a pencil), draw up the insulin, and give him an injection in his arm.

If you think the dinner table is appropriate for this, then so be it. There are those of us that don't, which you found out already in another thread. If you want to keep arguing and handing out "fuck you", have a blast.

Originally posted by Cheesesteak
it's rude to expect them to run off and hide all the time. You don't like needles, look away for a few seconds and all will be back to "normal" soon.

Enough already wth the "run off and hide" talk and "ashamed" nonsense. It may be back to "normal" soon if I pee in a bottle at the table, and people can mind their own business and turn away, but that's really not the point.

[lieu]

Any time-dependant thing you or your loved ones need to do to maintain good health short of an enema, go ahead. I'll get over it. I go to restaurants for the food, not to watch people, and I can manage to confine my sphere of indignation to what happens at my table and mine alone.

Good health to your son, Hentor, and to you. Ethilrist.

[Mr. Moto]

We have been taking the two year old twins and the six month old to restaurants from time to time, and the little one will need to feed sometimes. We solve this problem by getting tables in the corner if possible, and Mrs. Moto drapes a blanket for modesty's sake.

Now, we know lots of people dispense with the blanket, but we find it necessary not only for our comfort, but for the sensibilities of our fellow diners.

I say do what you need to do, but do it while exercising a modicum of discretion. If someone is offended while this is going on, they're looking too hard.

[griffen2]

Originally Posted by Hentor The Barbarian

It is very time dependent. As I explained, we have to do it moments AFTER he eats.

How many moments? Seriously, is ten seconds too long? Five? If so, is a public eatery the best place to take your son? If it's more like 20 or 30 seconds then you have time to take him to the toilet and perform the procedure away from the other patrons, patrons who are paying for the meal and not the priviledge of watching you perform intraveinous medical procedures on your kid.

Seriously, some people get really freaked out by shit like that. I used to date a girl who couldn't even stand the sight of a needle, let alone the sight of blood. If she ever sat opposite you and your family in a restaurant and saw you injecting your son she'd probably throw up. Some people are just weird about stuff like that.

Knowing this, as I'm sure you do, it's your responsibility as a considerate diner to take your son to the bathroom.

[griffen2]

Originally Posted by Hentor The Barbarian

Originally Posted by Hentor The Barbarian
It is very time dependent. As I explained, we have to do it moments AFTER he eats.

How many moments? Seriously, is ten seconds too long? Five? If so, is a public eatery the best place to take your son? If it's more like 20 or 30 seconds then you have time to take him to the toilet and perform the procedure away from the other patrons, patrons who are paying for the meal and not the priviledge of watching you perform intraveinous medical procedures on your kid.

Seriously, some people get really freaked out by shit like that. I used to date a girl who couldn't even stand the sight of a needle, let alone the sight of blood. If she ever sat opposite you and your family in a restaurant and saw you injecting your son she'd probably throw up. Some people are just weird about stuff like that.

Knowing this, as I'm sure you do, it's your responsibility as a considerate diner to take your son to the bathroom.

[beckwall]

Originally Posted by Sauron

If your son's diabetes is severe enough to need injections mere seconds after he eats, maybe going out to eat at a restaurant isn't the best option.

Un-fucking-believable. What you don't know about diabetes is truly shocking. People with diabetes actually do have a life, they enjoy eating out, they might even be standing next to you at WalMart someday. Careful, it might be contagious!

Ethilrist, Hentor, Hentor's child and all others who cope on a daily (hourly) basis with this disorder - my nurse's cap is off to you all.

[vetbridge]

While we are at it, could we forbid the following from dining in public:

Those with tracheostomies.
Those who have fewer than the optimal number of limbs.
Ugly people (you know who you are).
People more than 20% over their ideal body weight.

</sarcasm>

When I see someone injecting insulin, I feel a surge of relief that me and my kids are so fucking healthy.

[Bippy the Beardless]

Be as discrete as possible is good advice in every situation (except perhapse raising a fire alarm) But there should be no reason to hide if something you have to do might upset others.

[Larry Mudd]

Originally Posted by Mr. Moto

If someone is offended while this is going on, they're looking too hard.

^^ This is an eminently sensible observation. ^^

[NurseCarmen]

Some folks are squeemish about needles, so I guess I can kind of see their point of view. But take a second to rationalize and the average person I think would be fine with it. Me? I'll watch needles and blood and eat my steak rare, it wouldn't bother me. I'm also willing to drink milk and watch a woman breast feed.

For my next trick, I'll eat this fish...

[vetbridge]

Originally Posted by griffen2

I used to date a girl who couldn't even stand the sight of a needle, let alone the sight of blood. If she ever sat opposite you and your family in a restaurant and saw you injecting your son she'd probably throw up. Some people are just weird about stuff like that.

Maybe she shouldn't be out in public if she vomits so easily.

[Kalhoun]

Originally Posted by Hentor the Barbarian

It is very time dependent. As I explained, we have to do it moments AFTER he eats. We have found that even relatively brief delays result in increases in his A1C readings (a more global indicator of the degree of control that we are achieving, measured at his quarterly visits to the hospital).

Unusual sight? Sorry, not compelling. Squeamish? Well, I understand that there are ranges of comfort with watching an injection, SO DON'T WATCH. Damn, to actually see the needle on these particular syringes entering the skin, you'd have to be standing over our shoulder. They are about a quarter of an inch long.

So go about enjoying your meal, Marc. No worries, as long as you aren't leaning over my son's shoulder.

Well, I have a couple questions. First, how does his body know if he's done eating or if he's merely taking a breather between bites?

Second, what makes his diabetes so much different than all the diabetics I've known in my nearly 50 years who have never had to shoot up in public or risk a serious reaction.

[SteveG1]

I don't have a problem with diabetics testing or taking a shot in public, even at teh table. Their need to deal with it, and the serious possible result of not dealing with it, far outweighs any "icky factor" I might feel (which I don't). Anyone who doesn't want to see it, can choose to not look.

[Sauron]

Originally Posted by beckwall

Un-fucking-believable. What you don't know about diabetes is truly shocking. People with diabetes actually do have a life, they enjoy eating out, they might even be standing next to you at WalMart someday. Careful, it might be contagious!

I know next to nothing about diabetes. However, I know it ain't contagious, and the attitude you're projecting onto me is ridiculous in the extreme. Do you prefer to wallow in ignorance, or are you content to merely sip from the trough?

My point was, if Hentor the Barbarian's son's diabetes is severe enough to warrant an injection mere moments after eating, eating in public might not be the best option. BECAUSE (and pay attention here, beckwall, because this is the crux of the matter): eating in public introduces a whole host of variables into the process that are completely out of the control of the parents, not the least of which is the number of people around. What if they get accidentally jostled while the injection is being performed? What if they discover, once they open the case, the vial of Humalog has leaked/been broken/is empty?

I've never had a strawman built completely around such an innocuous point as you've done here. You've taken strawman argument to a new level. Congratulations. From now on, I personally will refer to this tactic as "building a beckwall."

[Dangerosa]

I'm sorry, you expect people to inject themselves in a bathroom? I don't eat in a bathroom, I wouldn't inject myself there - unless I WAS shooting smack and desprite. Bathrooms are really not set up for giving oneself injections. They have the perception, at least, of not being the worlds most sterile environments.

(And I'm not a diabetic, the only shots I've given myself were fertility shots at home).

I agree, be discrete (and I can't imagine how you couldn't be discrete), but do what you need to do.

When I see someone injecting insulin, I feel a surge of relief that me and my kids are so fucking healthy.

Amen

[Ethilrist]

Originally Posted by griffen2

the priviledge of watching you perform intraveinous medical procedures on your kid.

Subcutaneous, not intravenous. Fighting tha ignoranz.

Knowing this, as I'm sure you do, it's your responsibility as a considerate diner to take your son to the bathroom.

Knowing this, as I'm sure you do, please remember this high-horsed attitude of yours the next time you consider walking into a restaurant when you've got a cold.

If not, then bite me.

[mhendo]

Well, you learn something every day.

Before reading this thread, if i had seen someone injecting insulin in a restaurant i probably would have thought it rather inappropriate, even though i'm not personally grossed out by needles and stuff.

But i was not aware that insulin injections were so time-dependent. My wife and i have a diabetic cat that needs insulin injections twice a day, and the vet has always told us to just give two injection twelve hours apart, with no instructions about injections close to meal times or anything like that. I guess i sort of just assumed that it was the same for people. But apparently giving the injection close to eating is very important.

And, to tell you the truth, the sort of procedure that diabetics go through (the blood test, the injection) seems to occur in such a small, localized setting that you would probably have to be straining pretty hard to see what was actually going on. The chances of inadvertently, just-by-accident seeing the drop of blood from the prick, or the needle enter the skin, seem to be pretty low. As long as the people doing it don't make a big show, and do their best to be discreet, i don't see a huge problem. Also, when i'm eating out with friends, i'm usually too concerned with eating my own food and talking to my friends to care what people at the next table over are doing. I probably wouldn't even notice.

That said, it would also be nice if the diabetic would have a quick look around beforehand and see if there is a clean, out-of-the-way place where the injection can be done without anyone else being aware of it.

[Ethilrist]

Originally Posted by Kalhoun

Second, what makes his diabetes so much different than all the diabetics I've known in my nearly 50 years who have never had to shoot up in public or risk a serious reaction.

What makes it different is the 50 years of medical research during that time. Most of the diabetics you've known have probably been diabetics for a while and haven't necessarily kept up on all the news. It sounds like the OP is keeping very up on the news because his son is seeing the doctor several times a year. The A1C test he referenced indicates how tightly blood sugar levels are maintained over a period of weeks to months; if you consistently go high by an amount that wouldn't show up in a urine test after each meal, this will show up on an A1C test. It would also show up if he tested by taking a blood sample every fifteen minutes, but how many times a day do you want him to have to jab the kid? I test three times a day and it's about as much as I can stand. My doctor wants me to test eight times a day, including getting up in the middle of the night for one.

The awkward, working-blind solution to not testing that much is to try very hard to maintain a fanatically consistent eating & insuling schedule, both in quantity and timing of food and insulin. The closer he keeps to his schedule, the lesser the chances are that his son is going to go blind some day.

As I am.

[griffen2]

Originally Posted by vetbridge

Maybe she shouldn't be out in public if she vomits so easily.

And maybe anybody who is sickened by anything should be perpetually blindfolded to protect the oh-so-delicate sensibilities of those who think nothing of inflicting their anti-social behaviours on the rest of us but who are driven into apoplectic indignance by those who call them on it.

Tell you what, next time I'm down at McDonalds, I'll bring one of my pet tarantula's with me. They're quite harmless, really. I'll just let him run along my arms, over my face, across my lap and anyone who complains can go fuck himself for being insensitive.

Face facts. A lot of people are afraid of needles, just like a lot of people are afraid of spiders. A lot of people don't need to see a needle for more than a fraction of a second before they get upset in much the same way as you can upset an arachnophobic just by telling him there's a spider somewhere in the room. Looking away is not an option for these people. Hentor's not an idiot, he knows this is a common problem and so he should take care not to risk upsetting his fellow diners by publicly injecting his kid.

[Elenfair]

Personally? I'd rather catch a glimpse of a diabetic child getting an insulin shot than a snot-covered infant in a high chair spewing its food, making it ooze out of the corners of its mouth because it can't chew yet and hasn't figured out how to keep the pureed grub inside its mouth when it eats.

I understand some people can be squeamish about needles, but please. Just look away. A few seconds and it's over. Why make a child feel like he has to hide his illness or be ashamed of it? Banishing him to the bathroom is not unlike banishing breastfeeding women. And even there, the shot will take a second or three. The breastfeeding lasts waaaay longer.

Live and let live. It doesn't pose a threat to anyone. It takes less than a minute. Shut up and chew your salad. Look away.

[Anaamika]

Originally Posted by Hentor the Barbarian

You silly little selfish fuckers. Your inability to stop staring at our activities to prevent yourself from being disgusted, combined with your inability to have a small bit of understanding of the troubles that someone else has to go through on a daily basis, suggests to me that you are quite thoughtless, selfish and ignorant assholes. I will not have my son feel that he has to hide out of sight while he “shoots up” because he has diabetes. He is not in any way like a dirty diaper. We will be no more discreet than sitting at our own table, interacting quietly with one another. Take your nosiness and your disgust and shove it up your ass. Keep crying and I’ll come over and take a dump on your entrée. That’ll give you something to whine about.

I don't think you should go off into the bathroom or anything. It's perfectly fine to do it at the table, provided you're discreet, and the only reason I even say that so as not to embarrass the kid.

But I think you way overreacted in this post. Some people out there are a little squeamish about needles, and I think you could have done much better in this thread by putting it elsewhere and trying to educate people. You know, listing the things you do, why you have to do them, and letting people see that you're not just doing it to annoy them.

Seriously, some people really don't understand what it's all about. Yelling at them and telling them you're going to shit on their food isn't helping.

[treis]

Originally Posted by Dangerosa

I'm sorry, you expect people to inject themselves in a bathroom? I don't eat in a bathroom, I wouldn't inject myself there - unless I WAS shooting smack and desprite. Bathrooms are really not set up for giving oneself injections. They have the perception, at least, of not being the worlds most sterile environments.

Tables in the middle of resturants are? Every resturant I have been to they just wiped down the table whereas every bathroom I have been in they use products with bleach and such to kill germs.

I think Mr. Moto said it perfectly. Its no secret that people are squemish about needles and you ought to do it out of sight. However if it truely is as critical as you say for him to get an injection right after he eats then by all means inject him but try and be discreet.

[The Mad Hermit]

I've never had to inject in front of others. At Gettysdope last year, I went over to my car and did my shots. Then again, I use the belly for almost all shots so I don't usually run around shirtless, or have my shirt pulled up in the front to show my belly.

The needle and testers are small enough that it could be done discreetly, even at the table. If someone jostles you while taking an insulin shot it would at worst be a minor pain- the injections are into fatty tissue; it's not like Dr. McCoy giving himself an accidental overdose.

I think that a restaurant table is just as dirty as the restroom- it depends on the employees. The worst risk is getting something into the injection site and starting an infection.

[jsgoddess]

Originally Posted by mhendo

But i was not aware that insulin injections were so time-dependent. My wife and i have a diabetic cat that needs insulin injections twice a day, and the vet has always told us to just give two injection twelve hours apart, with no instructions about injections close to meal times or anything like that. I guess i sort of just assumed that it was the same for people. But apparently giving the injection close to eating is very important.

Regulation of a cat's blood sugar is much less precise than a person's. If there were a way to do such simple blood tests on cats as on people, the controls for the insulin could be stricter, too.

With the stricter controls, people can live healthy lives with diabetes. With cats, it's a lot of guesswork and making do, and their health does suffer for it.

[griffen2]

Originally Posted by Ethilrist

Subcutaneous, not intravenous. Fighting tha ignoranz.

Duly noted. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Ethilrist

Knowing this, as I'm sure you do, please remember this high-horsed attitude of yours the next time you consider walking into a restaurant when you've got a cold.

If not, then bite me.

What 'high-horse'? I personally couldn't care less if someone shot up next to me. I'm not in the least bit squeamish. However, it seems patently obvious to me that adminstering an injection in public might cause offence, so were I in Hentor's position I would take it to the bathroom. If the bathroom were filthy I suppose I would have no choice but to do it at the table but I would never patronize that restaurant again. I certainly wouldn't make a regular administering subcutaneous injections in public.

Also, for the record, the last place I would ever go if I had a cold is a crowded public eatery with (probably) a closed ventilation system. I wouldn't be able to enjoy my food knowing I might be infecting the person next to me.

[Troy McClure SF]

Originally Posted by Sauron

eating in public introduces a whole host of variables into the process that are completely out of the control of the parents, not the least of which is the number of people around. What if they get accidentally jostled while the injection is being performed? What if they discover, once they open the case, the vial of Humalog has leaked/been broken/is empty?

Sauron, you're way the fuck off. All of the above could happen anywhere on the planet. Even they locked him in a steel box, drugged him, and tied him to a board, Hentor might slip on a banana peel. Everything one does in life is a risk, to some extent. Wanting to live what resembles a normal life trumps "what if a swarm of killer bees flies off with the kit?!", I would think.

I've never had a strawman built completely around such an innocuous point as you've done here. You've taken strawman argument to a new level. Congratulations. From now on, I personally will refer to this tactic as "building a beckwall."

Innocuous, my ass. His response was perfectly appropriate, given your suggestion that the needle people stay home.

[Miller]

Originally Posted by griffen2

Seriously, some people get really freaked out by shit like that. I used to date a girl who couldn't even stand the sight of a needle, let alone the sight of blood. If she ever sat opposite you and your family in a restaurant and saw you injecting your son she'd probably throw up. Some people are just weird about stuff like that.

I'm sorry your ex is a gigantic pussy. I'm not sure why that's Hentor's problem, though.

And Sauron, although I generally enjoy your posts, you are acting like a putz of truly monumental proportions. Diabetics shouldn't go out to restaurants because you might have to look at one of their icky needles? Christ, grow a pair already.

Good rant, Hentor, and good luck to your kid.

[mhendo]

Originally Posted by Elenfair

Personally? I'd rather catch a glimpse of a diabetic child getting an insulin shot than a snot-covered infant in a high chair spewing its food, making it ooze out of the corners of its mouth because it can't chew yet and hasn't figured out how to keep the pureed grub inside its mouth when it eats.

Heh heh.

Seconded.

[Madd Maxx]

I guess people who need an insulin pump should just shun the light of day and hide out in their homes/caves? My father has to give himself insulin immediatly after eating, so I guess I shouldn't take my father out to eat in public anymore? I wish people would learn to mind their own damned business. Didn't your parents teach you not to stare at other people?

My family (on both sides) have a history of diabetes and most likely for me it is only a matter of time before I need medication/injections. So this strikes close to home for me and I for one will give myself my medication when I need to, where I need to, without concerning myself with your comfort level. I'll be minding my own business and if it bothers you I suggest you do the same.

[Giraffe]

Originally Posted by The Mad Hermit

The needle and testers are small enough that it could be done discreetly, even at the table.

This is something people who haven't actually seen insulin shots may not be aware of. I know I wasn't until a diabetic friend a few years back asked if we minded if she gave herself a shot in front of us. I expected a big-ass doctor's office needle, but it was a compact little thing. Small enough and quick enough that it was incredibly unobstrusive.

I personally have no problem with diabetics discreetly giving themselves shots wherever they want. Chronic medical conditions must be a huge pain in the ass. Overlooking minor social indiscretions to spare people who have them major inconvenience seems like the decent thing to do.

[elfbabe]

Go find a thumbtack. The kind with the colorful plastic top, you know the ones. I'll wait 'till you get back.

....

All right, ready? Good.

Now, observe the thumbtack. Look at the pointy metal bit that goes into the cubicle wall. Appreciate its size.

That's about the size of the actual needle used when my little sister has to give herself an injection of insulin in public. The rest just looks like a big pen.

Put the thumbtack down on the table. Now, walk backward for a few feet. Observe the pointy metal bit once more.

That's what you would see when she injects herself... IF it's not obscured by her shirt, her arm, the table, or one of the people she's with (at least one of which is usually true, she's not an exhibitionist) and IF you happen to be looking at her during the 5-10 seconds it takes her to pull her shirt aside from her waist, inject, and put her shirt back down.

To see the difference between this and "shooting up", go rent Requiem for a Dream or something.

[Miller]

Originally Posted by mhendo

Heh heh.

Seconded.

Thirded. Also, I think tofu is really, really disgusting. I get nauseous just thinking about it. Therefore, anyone who eats tofu in public is being insensitive and discourteous. Because when you go out to eat, your single most important consideration should be my personal hang-ups. Certainly not something so trivially unimportant as the health of your child.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Another gigantic pussy checking in here. Thanks, Miller, for the info!

As i've posted elsewhere recently, I have an infuriating phobia of needles. I'd love to be rid of it, but I'm not sure how to be. So as it is, I try to avoid being around syringes except when necessary--and when it's necessary, I try to limit my freakout about it.

If I saw someone break out the needle kit in a restaurant, I'd look away: it's not something I want to see. But even seeing it would probably make me sweat, make me feel woozy. I hate that, but that's how it is.

If you're trying to be discreet about it, then I won't be the least bit annoyed with you; them's the breaks, and frankly, you got it a helluva lot worse than me. But if you're defiantly and unnecessarily being ostentatious about it, I will be a little annoyed: my wooziness, my dizziness, is a pretty common reaction to needles, and you showed a lack of concern for it. I won't come over and yell at you, and I won't pit you, but I'll be a little pissed off.

In short: folks like me, with severe needle phobias, need to accept that sometimes needles will be part of a public environment. Folks like you, with a severe need for needles in public, should make efforts to be as discreet as possible about their use.

Fair enough?

Daniel

[BobLibDem]

What Mr. Moto said.

I agree that a public restroom is not the place for this. A dining table is much cleaner. Suppose you load the tester, then poke your finger under the table and squeeze out the drop, bring the tester down to the lap and put the blood on. Clean the finger and eject the lancet, then put the whole business in a napkin. You REALLY have to look to be offended by that. As for the injection, just do is as discretely as possible. If you have one of those pen-type syringes, it can be done very quickly.

Instead of being offended, just thank goodness that you don't have to do this when you eat. And if you did, would you want to be banished from eating out?

[Troy McClure SF]

Originally Posted by Left Hand of Dorkness

In short: folks like me, with severe needle phobias, need to accept that sometimes needles will be part of a public environment. Folks like you, with a severe need for needles in public, should make efforts to be as discreet as possible about their use.

Ah, voice of reason, you show yourself far too seldom on the SDMB sometimes.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Originally Posted by Miller

Thirded. Also, I think tofu is really, really disgusting. I get nauseous just thinking about it.

Yeah, yeah, you're one funny motherfucker.
Daniel

[Kalhoun]

Originally Posted by Dangerosa

I'm sorry, you expect people to inject themselves in a bathroom? I don't eat in a bathroom, I wouldn't inject myself there - unless I WAS shooting smack and desprite. Bathrooms are really not set up for giving oneself injections. They have the perception, at least, of not being the worlds most sterile environments.

(And I'm not a diabetic, the only shots I've given myself were fertility shots at home).

I agree, be discrete (and I can't imagine how you couldn't be discrete), but do what you need to do.



Amen

Every diabetic I've ever met shoots up in the bathroom.

[NinjaChick]

Am I the only one who sees a potential health risk to, say, the next people who use that table? Sure, in ideal situations, there won't be any bodily fluids in contact with the table. A girl I go to school with has diabetes and insists on waiting until she is sitting at the table with us all before injecting her insulin. I personally find it gross, becaused used needles should be disposed of in a sharps container, not allowed to sit in a plastic wrapper on a table that, at best, will be wiped off in three hours time. If it's punctured your skin, keep it out of a public space. You don't blow your nose sitting at the table, do you?

[Miller]

Originally Posted by Left Hand of Dorkness

Another gigantic pussy checking in here. Thanks, Miller, for the info!

...

If I saw someone break out the needle kit in a restaurant, I'd look away: it's not something I want to see. But even seeing it would probably make me sweat, make me feel woozy. I hate that, but that's how it is.

If you're trying to be discreet about it, then I won't be the least bit annoyed with you; them's the breaks, and frankly, you got it a helluva lot worse than me.

...

In short: folks like me, with severe needle phobias, need to accept that sometimes needles will be part of a public environment.

Nah, you're just afraid of needles. You're not being a pussy about it. Sorry for not making that distinction clearer in my first post, though.

[Left Hand of Dorkness]

Originally Posted by Miller

Nah, you're just afraid of needles. You're not being a pussy about it. Sorry for not making that distinction clearer in my first post, though.

Fair enough, though I still think your comparison to tofu-hatin is off the mark. Unless you literally feel like you're going to pass out when you see someone getting a shot, it's not a fair comparison.

Daniel