October 09, 2006

Another reason why the general public needs a crash course in Diabetes...

During my beloved cafeteria duty today, a fellow teacher came up to me and proudly shared that she had just reprimanded a diabetic student who had regular iced tea, chocolate milk, and a cookie on his tray.

"I told him, "You shouldn't be eating those things _______; you shouldn't be eating all of those sugary things!"" she said

He replied, "But Mrs. _______, I have an insulin pump, I can cover the carbs for these things."

She said, "That's not the purpose of your pump ________; it's not a license for you to eat junk!"

After she shared this much, I started to interject:

"Woah, woah, woah, please tell me you didn't say those things to him." I said

"You bet I did - he has to be all over the place eating crap like that!" she replied.

"Even if he is, it's his body, his disease, and, I have to say, it's not your business what he eats." She just stared at me so I continued talking

"With the insulin pump, he CAN eat what he wants as long as he covers his carbs. He's a teenager, and he probably wants to eat like everyone else his age does. He's a three sport athlete, and he has two very loving parents - I don't think he's at a loss for support or guidance."

She paused and then replied, "Well, I just don't think it's right - that can't be good for him."

And at this point I *mentally* proceed to bang my head into the wall, realizing my efforts were futile.

Even though I'm sure the student is used to comments like these, he shouldn't have to be.

None of us should.

9 Comments:

Blogger Shannon said...

Good for you for saying something to that teacher!

If she wants to be food police, she better be saying something to every teen in that lunchroom.

Hopefully the boy she spoke to ate what she told him not to anyway.....

7:50 PM  
Blogger mel said...

oooh, you should point out all the fattening things and sugary things she has on her plate next time she eats lunch and remind her that she's only getting older, etc, etc. but that's just what I would do because I can be mean.

8:05 PM  
Blogger Scott K. Johnson said...

I agree - good for you for saying something.

Makes me (and mel) want to jump all in her business next time she eats something more substantial than bran fiber & lettuce.

"Oh - you shouldn't be eating that - you could stand to lose a few pounds. Better stick to your bran fiber & lettuce."

Sigh...

10:05 PM  
Blogger George said...

YOU ARE MY HERO!!!!!

That was so great. I ALWAYS bite my tongue in situations like this. I am so glad you didn't!

I feel the need to say something extremely outdated...

YOU GO GIRL!

2:20 AM  
Blogger LaLa said...

Shannon,

I think the boy probably did go ahead and eat what he had on his tray. I think I would have scarfed down every bite right in front of her just to spite her!

Mel,
That's sooo tempting!!! She's about 5'3'' and tops out at 105 on a heavy day (man, do I hate people like that!)but I'm pretty sure she doesn't eat like a saint.

Scott,
I honestly couldn't keep my thoughts to myself in that case. I'm usually really reserved, but I think this lady hit a sore spot!

George,
You made my day!!! haha

11:07 AM  
Blogger Kelsey said...

I had the same thought as Shannon... No body "should" be eating junk food. Next time tell her that she better go yell at the entire school for eating junk, not the one diabetic that has to carefully weigh what junk he eats.

Why is it that people are so aggressive about things they know nothing about?!

4:55 PM  
Blogger Sarah said...

People do this to me all the freaking time and it po's me more than, well, a lot of things. WAY TO GO! We need more of us to tell it how it is to people who really have no idea!

9:27 PM  
Blogger Brad said...

Freakin AWESOME!
Excellent work :)

11:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i get this all the time at work. thing that annoys me is my mum, everytime i eat a cookie i get asked "is that cuz you're low" i'm like, no i want a cookie. annoys me.

3:52 PM  

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