injecting insulin at the dinner table

[burn_this_city]

Personally I don't think people with legitimate health concerns need to go out of their way to protect the easily offended from a trivial inconvenience.

[Barnet Flame]

Injecting insulin is not being inconsiderate to anyone.

Gawping at someone at another table while they do it is.

[photon]

Depending on what needed to be done I could see why one would choose the table vs. the bathroom.

A pen type injection would be easy in the bathroom, but if you had to set out a few things (i.e. you couldn't do it with just two hands, you needed some table space), a table offers more personal space and less chance of an awkward interaction (DUDE YOU CAN'T DO DRUGS HERE) with some other person in your personal space during a delicate task.

I'd probably do it in the bathroom, but I can appreciate why someone else might not.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Personally I don't think people with legitimate health concerns need to go out of their way to protect the easily offended from a trivial inconvenience.

I don't think asking for discretion is at all out of line, a medical condition doesn't give you a free pass from doing what you can to show basic manners. Without being there I can't say if this guy was out of line, and I certainly don't know the variables of his particular situation, but if there was a more discreet way to do things without placing an excessive burden on him that seems to be the sensical choice.

Everyone keeps acting like this is an absolute thing when they reality is there's a lot of grey area here, which makes the initial question completely legitimate and the over the top reactions garbage. There are certainly times when it would be appropriate to use a needle at the table, it may be the only option. There are also times where there are readily available options that don't burden anyone unnecessarily. The rest fall in between, and everyone should do their best to realize there are others around and accommodate as best as possible.

[Yasa]

Assuming you don't have an aversion to needles, what exactly is gross about the insulin injection?

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by Sliver

So I'm out for supper last night at a decent restaurant (entrees were about $20, so it's not McDonald's or anything), when the guy at the table across from me pulls out his little diabetes kit, fills up the syringe, and injects what I assume to be insulin.

I can handle needles fine, but seriously, this completely put me off my meal. I was sitting directly across from him and couldn't help but notice (our tables were in the middle of the restaurant, so we didn't have the small amount of privacy a booth could have afforded).

Just curious .......

Why the need to mention what the price of entrees were and the quality of restaurant, with regards to the matter at hand?

If the same incident had occurred at McDonalds, would it have affected you differently? (serious question).

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by Bagor

Just curious .......

Why the need to mention what the price of entrees were and the quality of restaurant, with regards to the matter at hand?

If the same incident had occurred at McDonalds, would it have affected you differently? (serious question).

Well, if you're eating in McDonalds, you're more likely to have diabetes.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Barnet Flame

Injecting insulin is not being inconsiderate to anyone.

Gawping at someone at another table while they do it is.

I wasn't gawking. It was basically over my wife's shoulder and impossible to avoid seeing.

You'll have to forgive the crudeness of this drawing. I didn't have time to paint or draw it to scale:

[Yasa]

That's the biggest table I've ever seen.

Edit: Oh, I guess it's not to scale. I'd still like to imagine that it is though.

[Barnet Flame]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I wasn't gawking. It was basically over my wife's shoulder and impossible to avoid seeing.

You'll have to forgive the crudeness of this drawing. I didn't have time to paint or draw it to scale:

If I had a hot wife like that, I'd be staring at her t***.

But thats just me, I'm romantic like that.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Yasa

Assuming you don't have an aversion to needles, what exactly is gross about the insulin injection?

I don't have a problem with getting a vaccination and I don't mind being there when my kids get their shots. Maybe it has something to do with the somewhat medical atmosphere of those shots that put me at ease? In the restaurant, for some reason, it seemed very gross to me and caused me to temporarily lose my appetite.

Originally Posted by Bagor

Just curious .......

Why the need to mention what the price of entrees were and the quality of restaurant, with regards to the matter at hand?

If the same incident had occurred at McDonalds, would it have affected you differently? (serious question).

I guess I expect a bit more class in a more expensive restaurant. Like when I take my kids to a formal restaurant I make sure they're quieter, sit still, don't get up from the table, etc. At McDonald's I'm a little more lax.

If this happened at McDonald's I would have been less surprised than at a sit-down restaurant.

[Titan]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Why can't there be more naked chest breast feeding in the restaurants that I go to.

Be careful what you ask for...

[Yasa]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I don't have a problem with getting a vaccination and I don't mind being there when my kids get their shots. Maybe it has something to do with the somewhat medical atmosphere of those shots that put me at ease? In the restaurant, for some reason, it seemed very gross to me and caused me to temporarily lose my appetite.

Well that explains why you're not grossed out about vaccinations, but what exactly is it that puts you off when you see a non-clinical injection? It's a pretty quick process.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Yasa

Well that explains why you're not grossed out about vaccinations, but what exactly is it that puts you off when you see a non-clinical injection? It's a pretty quick process.

Just messing around with bodily fluids at the table is gross to me. I think I'd become desensitized to it pretty quickly if it was something I was around a lot, but that's the first time in 34 years I'd ever seen it happen at a dinner table five feet from me and my "put off" reaction was a completely involuntary response.

[Titan]

Quoted for awesomness of drawing. Both the actual drawing and the fact Sliver thought it necessary to put pen to paper, draw a big a55 table for he and his wife (table dancing after dinner?) went to a scanner, uploaded the picture and then posted it here. E for Effort.

By the way I think it is even more rude and disgusting that you would have your feet up on the table in a nice restaurant!!!

Originally Posted by Sliver

I wasn't gawking. It was basically over my wife's shoulder and impossible to avoid seeing.

You'll have to forgive the crudeness of this drawing. I didn't have time to paint or draw it to scale:

[Daradon]

I had to give my sister an injection like this once (not diabetes but a condition that requires semi-regular injections) before she got the spring loaded pen. I thought it was kinda fun. Of course, maybe that was just because I got to stick my sister with a sharp object and not get in trouble for being the mean older brother!

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Personally I don't think people with legitimate health concerns need to go out of their way to protect the easily offended from a trivial inconvenience.

Indeed? So if I need to change a bandage, that's OK at the restaurant too?
It's just basic common courtesy - it's not like it's an emergency allergy injection.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by valo403

I don't think asking for discretion is at all out of line, a medical condition doesn't give you a free pass from doing what you can to show basic manners. Without being there I can't say if this guy was out of line, and I certainly don't know the variables of his particular situation, but if there was a more discreet way to do things without placing an excessive burden on him that seems to be the sensical choice.

Everyone keeps acting like this is an absolute thing when they reality is there's a lot of grey area here, which makes the initial question completely legitimate and the over the top reactions garbage. There are certainly times when it would be appropriate to use a needle at the table, it may be the only option. There are also times where there are readily available options that don't burden anyone unnecessarily. The rest fall in between, and everyone should do their best to realize there are others around and accommodate as best as possible.

My issue is with the perception that he is somehow burdening someone. I don't think anyone's reaction has been over the top, especially when the OP comes across as crass. I think the belief that basic manners (hiding in the bathroom) should win out over someone treating their medical condition in a public setting is where the real disconnect from sensibility lies. This is a guy injecting himself with insulin, a pretty regular occurance for a diabetic, its not someone emptying a colostomy bag while Sliver is trying to wolf down a bean burrito.

[Yasa]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Indeed? So if I need to change a bandage, that's OK at the restaurant too?
It's just basic common courtesy - it's not like it's an emergency allergy injection.

I'd say there's quite a bit of difference between a thin needle going into the lower stomach, and removing bandages from an open wound. The smell being one.

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Indeed? So if I need to change a bandage, that's OK at the restaurant too?
It's just basic common courtesy - it's not like it's an emergency allergy injection.

Are we talking a massive weeping gunshot wound or a finger bandage?