Airplane Story

On the way home from Newfoundland, something happened on the airplane that really upset me, but I figured I'd just let it go and forget about it because clearly with what happened, the other person was quite ignorant and theres no point to letting it bother me. I got to thinking today though, and I thought Id share the story on my blog since it was a part of my life's journey with diabetes.

On the way to the airport to get the plane home to Ontario, my aunt's tire got a flat and we were late getting to the airport. Once we got through security we borded the plane right away because the plane was waiting for us. I sat down in my seat after putting my carry on luggage above in the storage bins, and got myself situated. I looked at the teenage boy and the mid 20s woman (they were brother and sister), said hello like most people do on the plane since youll be sitting beside eachother for a while, and was extremely taken back when the boy didnt even look at me, and the woman just looked at me, rolled her eyes, and looked away. At this point I knew it was going to be a long 3 and a half hours. Amongst all the rush in the morning, I had forgotten to take my long acting insulin, so once we were up in the air and the seat belt sign was off, I would take it even though it was a little bit off schedule. Once we were up in the air, I checked my sugar since it was going to be a while before my next meal, and as I was doing this, the woman beside me kept looking over, whispering to the guy beside her repeatedly, which didnt bother me, I dont particularly care because some people have never seen or experienced the routines of a diabetic in public before, especially a type 1. It was on the lower side, so I figured Id wait till after I ate to do my long acting just to be safe. When the food came along, It wasn't exactly the greatest thing I had ever tasted, but I knew it was definitely on the high carb side. A pizza roll, stuffed with sweet tomato sauce and A LOT of cheese, and something was telling me the cheese wasn't low fat. After eating it, I could feel my sugar rising quite high, so I checked it and sure enough it was at 12.3, Im on the sliding scale still, so I figured I'd take a smaller dose of rapid  insulin than I normally would (For this I went with 3 units). I got out my needles, both the rapid and the slow release, and began prepping them for injection. The woman kept looking over at the needles, looking at me, then rolling her eyes again. When i saw her do this around the 5th time, I was feeling a little on edge but i put aside an uneducated woman for my health anyways, because I knew what was worth more. I did my rapid injection first, and just as i lifted up my shirt to get ready for it, the woman looked over, looked at the guy beside her, and loudly said "Thats gross!". I just chuckled to myself, and the guy who was sitting across from aisle from me looked at me like he felt bad for me because of this woman. I found the spot for injection, and slowly, just incase of sudden turbulencem, put the needle in my stomach and injected the rapid insulin. Just as I was doing this, the woman beside me then looked at me square in eye and with her nasty attitude said "That's the grossest thing I've ever seen. Can't you do that somewhere else?". Before i could even comprehend what she said, she put her earphones in and closed her eyes. At first I thought this was some kind of joke and she was gonna wake up and say "Oh sorry, I was just kidding" and laugh, but no. She was dead serious. I couldn't believe it, and I actually shed a few tears because I was so upset. The guy across the aisle looked at me and told me it wasn't worth the tears and that she wasa obviously uneducated. He seemed like he had had experience with a type one before, and told me to go ahead and do the second needle. I really didnt care at all what the woman beside me was going to say about my second needle. The line for the bathrooms were always long, the bathrooms were tiny and I assumed would be hard to inject in, and I had waited long enough for my long acting. As I put the second injection in my stomach, the boy on the inside nudged the woman with his elbow and she woke up, looked at me, and loudly said "Wow, i cant wait to get off this plane". By this point I just started laughing hard, as well as the guy across the aisle, and shook my head at her. I knew this woman was probably one of the most ignorant people I had ever met and totally wasn't worth me getting upset over.

I'm proud that I am diabetic, I dont let it get me down or stop me from doing anything. I shouldnt have to wait in a line for 20 minutes on an airplane just to do a needle because some girl doesn't like it. Ive done them at tables in restaurants, the middle of a kitchen at my friends house, and no one else seemed to care. This woman could have just asked me if it bothered her that much, but because she decided to be immature about it, I have no respect for her and did what I had to do. When it comes to people like this, I ignore them. You cant let them bring you down because theyre not worh it. Do what you have to do and smile about it. Uneducated people will get over it, and they'll tell the story to someone else, that someone else will make them feel bad and say "they were probably diabetic". I believe in karma, and karma will balance out. I know my next plane ride, I'll probably tell the person i'm sitting beside that im a T1D, if they decide theyre going to say hello back. If not, screw em!

Jenn :)