# “People with diabetes shouldn’t inject insulin publicly!” **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 10, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240 "2005-05-10T16:45:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/61 "2005-05-10T18:49:36Z")
**NinjaChick** , I would think most people take the needles home with them to dispose of properly, likely there is even a place in thier kit for them to put the used needles. If your friend doesn’t do this, my WAG would be she’s a minority and needs to grow up. I might be mistaken, but why not ask **Hentor** what they do with the needles once they are done, and whether or not they leave them for the restaurant to dispose of, or carefully put them away to be trashed later? ---
**Author:** ![hawkeyejo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19b73/32.png) [@hawkeyejo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawkeyejo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/62 "2005-05-10T18:50:54Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Prepare to be educated on phobias: > > A phobia of a needle does not necessarily depend on the size of the needle; nor does it depend on seeing the injection occur. A phobia of a needle is, by definition, an _irrational_ fear. It is a fear triggered by a strange cause: it’s triggered by the _concept_ of a needle. The knowledge that someone at the next table is giving themselves an injection is what would set my phobia a-tremblin. > > Again, if you gotta do that, you gotta do that: I’m not going to fault you for it. At the same time, I would much appreciate it if you can do it in a way that I remain in blissful ignorance. If you can work the kit in your lap, or on the chair beside you, or even if you can place it where it’s hidden by a dish, that’ll make my life easier. > > That’s all I’m saying. > Daniel Fair enough. But to be clear about the _action_ as opposed to the _size_ of the needle, I’ll add that unless someone is specifically trying to see what the person at the other table is doing, it is a hard thing to spot. It’s not like they have to be bent over the table with someone poking them in their posterior. Mostly (at least AFAIK) it is taken in the stomach and any actions involved are well covered by the table in front of the person. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/63 "2005-05-10T18:52:32Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > Every diabetic I’ve ever met shoots up in the bathroom. And now your “meeting” several that don’t. I have a friend who was insulin diabetic and was always shocked that anyone expected her to inject herself in the same place people take a shit. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/64 "2005-05-10T18:52:42Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > A question for the diabetics: so, what do you do with the used needles and the bloody test strip? I’m a lucky one that does not use insulin, so needles are not an issue. I use alcohol wipes to clean the finger after I’m done with the blood. Then I eject the lancet and put the prick of it back in the twist-off end. I wrap the lancet in the used wipe, and then insert the whole works into the foil wrap of the alcohol wipe. They I slip the strip, blood side first, into the foil wrap. Now I squeeze the package tightly and put in the trash. If I had to routinely test away from home, I’d invest in a small sharps container for all the bio waste. Nobody gets into my trash at home, and by the time curbside pickup comes, it’s no more hazardous than say a carpet tack strip. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/65 "2005-05-10T18:53:21Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Bold this: Look away. **We put the little square of napkin and the used syringe back in the kit and zip it back up.** Here is your answer **nyctea scandiaca** and\*\* NinjaChick\*\*. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/66 "2005-05-10T18:56:12Z")
> [@lisacurl](#): > > I always thought that the main thing that Shouldn’t Be Done while dining out is staring at other diners closely enough to notice that they are discreetly dealing with their life-threatening illness by taking medication. Amen to that. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/67 "2005-05-10T18:56:45Z")
[WARNING - needle pix, no blood or skin](http://ryvmed.com/searchresult.aspx?CategoryID=13) These are a selection of microfine syringes for insulin use. Note the _tiny_ amount they are designed to inject…they are about as big around as a slimline marker, call it .75 of a centimeter or just a smidge over a quarter of an inch. It tends to run about 4 inches long not counting hte half inch long _really tiny skinny thin_ needle part. Think of sticking youself under the table with a small marker or pencil. You can be really sneaky doing it. If you were sitting in the back corner at a table I seriously doubt that anybody would actually see you if there was someone else at the table. At most, when I do a glucose stick you _might_ see the stuff stiing on the edge of the table, my accu-check is smaller than my PDA, and I have had people actually sitting at my table not know I have done a stick until it was all over. I think they thought I was using my PDA for something. ---
**Author:** ![elfbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b782af/32.png) [@elfbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfbabe)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/68 "2005-05-10T18:58:08Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > I would much appreciate it if you can do it in a way that I remain in blissful ignorance. If you can work the kit in your lap, or on the chair beside you, or even if you can place it where it’s hidden by a dish, that’ll make my life easier. What? WHAT?! A reasonable, minor precaution that most polite people probably already take?! Fuck you, man!!!111oneone 😛 > [@NinjaChick](#): > > A question for the diabetics: so, what do you do with the used needles and the bloody test strip? The test strip (which will have, quite literally, one drop of blood on it) goes back in my sister’s little case for later disposal. Needles go in the sharps container at home. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/69 "2005-05-10T18:59:23Z")
These syringes come with a hard plastic orange cap. We put the hard plastic cap back on and put the used syringe back in the kit. We take the syringe home and put it in a pop bottle sitting next to the fridge. When it is full, we put the lid on and put it in the trash. The test strip is a rigid plastic strip structured so that the blood is wicked up between the front and back of the plastic. It comes in a foil pack. When we are done with it, we jam it back in the foil pack, fold it and put it back in the kit to be thrown away later. ---
**Author:** ![abbeytxs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@abbeytxs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abbeytxs)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/70 "2005-05-10T18:59:41Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > A question for the diabetics: so, what do you do with the used needles and the bloody test strip? > > Count me among the people who agree that it’s “icky.” I do agree that medical procedures, especially ones that involve needles and blood-letting, should not be performed in a public eating establishment, if at all possible. > > There are just certain things that according to generally accepted standards of eitquette should not be done in a restaurant while sitting at a table. For example, if I had a wound, I would not clean and dress it at the table, or change my band-aid or whatever. That is just gross. Other personal things such as blowing your nose, brushing your hair, picking teeth with a toothpick, applying/checking make-up, I would rather be done in private. The needles come with a small plastic cap. Once I was done injecting, I would replace the plastic cap and put it back in the case with my tester (the entire case wasn’t much bigger then a glasses case). I also filled my needles at home and just brought the loaded needle to the restaurant. For the most part I would go to the restroom to inject but occasionally I would inject at the table. If I did it at the table I would inject into my upper thigh and you would have to be paying really close attention to the underside of my table to see me do it. I appreciate that you wouldn’t change your band aid at the table, but you don’t need to change a band aid in order to eat. If you are diabetic, you need to inject insulin to eat, I don’t see these two examples as equal. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/71 "2005-05-10T19:05:57Z")
> [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > Count me among the people who agree that it’s “icky.” . . . There are just certain things that according to generally accepted standards of eitquette should not be done in a restaurant while sitting at a table. For example, if I had a wound, I would not clean and dress it at the table, or change my band-aid or whatever. That is just gross. Other personal things such as blowing your nose, brushing your hair, picking teeth with a toothpick, applying/checking make-up, I would rather be done in private. None of those other activities are necessary, time-sensitive medical procedures. God help any of you delicate people who think public injections are “icky” and “gross” if you ever find yourselves with a condition like diabetes. I guess you’ll just be offing yourselves then so you don’t have to deal with it. **Left Hand of Dorkness** seems to be able to handle it. Sure would be nice if the rest of you could grow up and do the same. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/72 "2005-05-10T19:11:46Z")
> [@elfbabe](#): > > What? WHAT?! A reasonable, minor precaution that most polite people probably already take?! > > Fuck you, man!!!111oneone > > 😛 Don’t make me stop the car. In case it’s not clear, I’m not in any way saying that people ARE being indiscreet about this; in all my years of needlephobia I’ve never seen anyone using needles at a restaurant. I’m just saying that, in the hypothetical, if someone were to be indiscreet about this out of some sort of righteous defiance, it’d annoy me. But since I’ve never seen that happen, I’m perfectly unannoyed. Frankly, I think most of y’all would be too, except that it’s damn fun to get annoyed over hypothetical slights in the pit :). Daniel ---
**Author:** ![missbunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@missbunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missbunny)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/73 "2005-05-10T19:12:54Z")
This is a toughie. I know I myself would be totally grossed out to the point of being sick by seeing someone pop some blood out of his finger and then wiping it off on a napkin. The shot itself probably wouldn’t bother me so much, maybe because I gave my dog insulin shots for years. I might just happen to be looking in that direction, so it’s not a case of “just look away” if I’m already looking - not staring, just looking over at the exact moment. On the other hand, diabetics can’t be expected to live in a cave somewhere. And a bathroom often isn’t set up for doing what needs to be done to take the blood, test it, and set up the syringe or insulin pen. I guess we’re all just going to have to deal with it sometimes. Grossed-out people like me might lose their appetites sometimes. Diabetics and their families should make every effort to keep their medical needs in public on the down-low, so that nobody has to see it if at all possible. Sometimes people are going to see anyway. No need for the grossed-out people to make a huge fuss about it, nor for the diabetic people to get all indignant because someone gets grossed out by it. Life goes on. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/74 "2005-05-10T19:14:03Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > God help any of you delicate people who think public injections are “icky” and “gross” if you ever find yourselves with a condition like diabetes. I guess you’ll just be offing yourselves then so you don’t have to deal with it. I don’t think they’re icky or gross and when I get a shot I always make it a point to observe what’s going on. That doesn’t mean I’m going to inject myself at the dinner table. > [@](#): > > **Left Hand of Dorkness** seems to be able to handle it. Sure would be nice if the rest of you could grow up and do the same. I can handle it. I still think it’s rude to do it at a table in a restaurant but I can handle it. Marc ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/75 "2005-05-10T19:17:25Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Am I the only one who sees a potential health risk to, say, the next people who use that table? So - did you ignore this post: > [@](#): > > 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 ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/76 "2005-05-10T19:19:10Z")
As long as you are discreet and don’t leave the needle on the table, I don’t see what the problem is. At the Cafe where I used to work, someone left a used insulin syring sitting out on the table after they left. It was the grossest thing I have ever seen left behind and it took me a bit to figure out how to dispose of it properly. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/77 "2005-05-10T19:19:14Z")
> [@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. So they should never leave home for fear of upsetting someone with their “unusual” practices? Maybe the kid with asthma (like me) should stay home as well, since someone might be upset if he has to suddenly “take a hit” off his inhaler. Fuck Miss Manners and Emily Post. Some people have medical needs to address, and their ability to live their lives in as normal a fashion as possible without interference trumps the inability of other resaurant patrons to mind their own fucking business. ---
**Author:** ![light\_strand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a6a055/32.png) [@light\_strand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/light_strand)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/78 "2005-05-10T19:24:16Z")
Good Lord people, what the hell is wrong with you? Injecting insulin is just not a big deal. For those of you with irrational fears, I respectfully suggest that you avert your eyes when someone at another table does something you find unpleasant. There are many, many things I personally find objectionable, and yet, I don’t expect others to accommodate my tastes. I find veal to be absolutely abhorrent, but I don’t insist that it be taken off the menu. My sister can’t stand the smell of fish, and yet we don’t expect fish-eaters to find another table. Just for a comparison, in college we used to eat with a man who had severe cerebral palsy. His disability made it extremely difficult for him to feed himself, thus making it absolutely sickening to actually observe him eating. However, he was always invited, and was a wonderful conversationalist. It was easy enough, to just not look too closely. He died shortly after that semester when his driver rolled his van, and I feel a better person to have know him for that short time, despite my discomfort. Injecting someone with insulin is not a trivial process. It’s easy enough to test and inject oneself, and do it discreetly, but how do you suggest **Hentor** inject his son? Should he sit on the bathroom floor? Should they both go into a stall? What if **Mini-Hentor** is with his mother…Women’s bathroom? I work with Type 1 Diabetics daily, so maybe I’m just not easily fazed, but hey, inject away! Do what you need to do to keep your eyesight, and your feet, and I’ll just look away for awhile. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/79 "2005-05-10T19:28:00Z")
> [@Troy McClure SF](#): > > **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. SumBITCH. Show me where I’m talking about any of this shit. All I’m talking about is taking reasonable precautions. A crowded restaurant is not the place I want to receive a subcutaneous injection. I’m talking about doing everything possible to minimize risks. **Hentor** ’s kid is probably less than pleased about having to receive injections, regardless of the size of the needle – why take the risk of having somebody jostle you while you’re doing it? > [@](#): > > Innocuous, my ass. His response was perfectly appropriate, given your suggestion that the needle people stay home. > [@Miller](#): > > 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. Fuck you both and the horses you rode in on. I never suggested “needle people stay home,” nor did I say I didn’t want to look at their “icky needles.” I said … heck, here, I’ll quote it for you: “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.” Damn, people … at least LOOK a little bit before you jump to conclusions. I have no dog in this fight, and I personally couldn’t care less if somebody had to perform minor surgery at the next table over in Outback. It’s frustrating to get branded as some sort of diabetes-phobe based on absolutely no evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240/80 "2005-05-10T19:33:32Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > 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 Well, it was supposed to be a ridiculous comparion to rebut a ridiculous complaint. I don’t actually think my distaste for tofu is realistically comparable to a phobia. And believe me, I know from phobias. Speaking of which, if you don’t mind my asking, how do you feel about sewing needles or pins? Is it just medical needles that set you off? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-with-diabetes-shouldn-t-inject-insulin-publicly/303240.md?page=5)