The world is a big huge place, with a lot of people in it. Each and every person has their own traditions, their own way of speaking, their own beliefs, and their own way of thinking. That means that with so many different points of view, you’re going to run into a few people that say things that will rub you the wrong way. For example, my friends and a good number of my college campus like to say they’re going to get diabetes.
The Dreaded Comment
Now it’s not some random statement that bursts forth as they walk into class. It usually happens in the dining hall or where candy and snacks are being dispersed. The person will eat something known for its unhealthiness, let’s say a slice of cake, and then get up to get another. When they sit back down and realize that everyone who saw them eat the first slice of cake will now watch them eat the second, they get nervous and say what I now dread hearing: “Oh my gosh, I’m sooo going to get diabetes!”
Why it Bends Me out of Shape
This kind of thinking, that crazy way of bringing up a serious disease in order to gather acceptance makes no sense. In doing so, people do three things that they probably don’t even think about. First, they allow their insecurity about their eating habits and the pressure of others to get to them. We’re all grown ass people here, we can eat whatever we want. Sure, as adults we should try to eat healthy in order to stay alive as long as possible, but eating that piece of cake is not going to upset the balance that is someone’s healthy lifestyle. Do not give food that much power. Another thing that a person does when bringing up diabetes is to downplay the disease. According to the American Diabetes Association, “diabetes causes more deaths a year than breast cancer and AIDS combined,” but society still has the disease viewed as a simple side effect to eating too much. While it’s not okay to make a joke about AIDS, and it is certainly not okay to make a joke about breast cancer, why would it be anywhere close to being okay to make light of diabetes? Then, there’s the third thing that no one really thinks about. When people use the diabetic joke, they poke fun at the 30 million suffering with the disease. Believe it or not, there is no way of knowing who is affected by the illness, whether personally or through someone they know, just by looking them up and down. The comment can hurt someone’s feelings, bring back memories, or just debase the struggle of those who live with it every day. All of that, just from some attempt at a joke.
No Joking Matter
Now, I’m sure there are those who would tell me that they didn’t mean it that way, that I shouldn’t be so sensitive. I’m also positive that there would be those who would justify their actions by claiming to know someone who’s diabetic, giving them access to a special club that can joke around about the disease. My reply to that would simply be this: would you, without regret, say the comment in front of that person? My mother is a Type 1 diabetic, has been since I was eight years old. Every single time I hear someone mention how they’ll get diabetes and laugh, I see her face when she was told she had it. Diabetes isn’t a joke, it’s not like the flu that goes away after treatment. People are suffering--don’t make light of it.
