I was reminiscing the other day with a friend of mine with whom I went to high school in Temuka and after doing the normal “where do you live, are you married, got kids? where do you work” stuff, we started talking about all the things we used to get up to as kids. Naughty, naughty things.
We talked about shoving potatoes up the exhaust pipe of the school principals car, throwing paper darts at Ms McLean, stealing the social studies teachers letterbox for the 3rd or 4th time (it became a running joke in town), smoking cigarettes in the bushes at the cross country and piercing my ear with a compass in maths amongst other things. We also talked about how every now and again I would have to leave class in the middle of a lesson to tend to a hypo and would, for safety reasons, take someone with me. There had been an incident at primary school where I went low swimming and the teacher sent me back to school by myself to get some glucose alone. Neither of us though it through very well and I ended up almost croaking cos it was about a kilometer away! 
Anyway, after that incident my mother issued a decree and I was never allowed to go anywhere alone when I was low ever again. Every now and again however (perhaps unsurprisingly) I’d take the piss a little and fake a hypo or pretend it was worse than it was to get out of a boring class and, since I could, I would also take the opportunity to bring one of my fellow classmates with me in accordance with the abovementioned decree – usaually Nigel Kaan. It makes me cringe now to think how many times I must have done that during my 10 years at school as a T1 but on the other hand I did have to inject, watch what I ate etc etc so I reckon I deserved a bit of a break – don’t you?
Then as an adult (and I’ve felt somewhat guilty about this for some time now) I appealed a $50 parking ticket using diabetes as an excuse and got off! Shocking but true I’m afraid. To be fair to myself, there were about 150 free parks in there and I was only 11 minutes past the ticket expiry so it seemed a little excessive to me but still…I’m a fraud!
To make myself feel better about it I’d love to hear what kinds of things you’ve all got up to using diabetes as an excuse cos let’s face it, we’ve all done it. Haven’t we?!?!?
- Aaron
Posted in Hypos & Hypers, Slice of Life
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Nic wrote
I’ve actually made a point in my life of not using diabetes as a fake excuse (nerdy I know) because I fear karma! I hate taking fake sickies as well because I have this theory that when you take a sickie you then come down sick with something…. Probably nonsense. Anyway – this is not to say I’ve not employed a couple of diabetes excuses which were not exactly truthful. A few years back I went to the gym before work and realised when I got out of the shower that I’d left my makeup at home. Too vain to spend a whole day at work sans makeup or hair products, I texted work and told them I had left my insulin at home and needed to go and get it. Boring story? Yes. [disclaimer: I do have a slightly more racy story which involves a music festival in London but have decided it’s probably not blog-appropriate, sorry folks]
Aaron wrote
I agree with you Nic – never a good idea to cry wolf and I also try to live by that mantra too but I obviously felt a little sorry for myself on the odd occasion, was easily coerced and was weak-willed!
These days I’m an upstanding citizen
Nic wrote
Bah, I wasn’t trying to be all high and mighty on it at all – if I’d had it as a kid that would have been my free ride to alllll sorts of excuses I’m sure of that!
Em wrote
Hi Aaron, I remember while at high school I would text on my phone during class time, get caught out and then pretend that I was taking a blood sugar… I also HATED school swimming so would conveniently have a “major hypo” right before swimming! I was often to blame for me and a friend not showing up to class – “she had a hypo and I needed to help her!” It is a great excuse for getting food and drink into movies/concerts etc too! Why not have a little fun with it
Sianne wrote
I did go to a concert at Vector Arena and had no idea you weren’t allowed to bring food and drink in. The woman at the door started chucking my supplies in the bin so i said “I’m diabetic” so she let me take in all my diet coke and V (Sugar free of course) and all my snacks which I got to share with my mate. I figure when the new no driving and texting rules come in you can use your pump or meter as an excuse “sorry officer I was just testing my blood sugars”
Sarah wrote
I used to be so embarrassed about my diabetes as a school student that I would almost pass out in class than admit to having a hypo. All those lost wagging opportunities! Good to hear that other people were seizing opportunities as they arose. Now of course I compulsively tell people about my diabetes and even wrote a novel about it – all that denial as a child.
Aaron Nolan wrote
So good to hear that I wasn’t the only one – any parents got some good stories to tell? I remember trying to tell my Mum that I lost an entire pack of Glucodin tablets under a bush at St. Johns training on a Tuesday night. She promptly drove me to the spot to show her where they were at which point I realised I was up for it and confessed.
The BG in the high 20’s had most likely given it away by then anyway…
Aaron Nolan wrote
P.S. Sarah – what was the name of the novel (I’m taking you at your word!).
Sarah wrote
Dead People’s Music – just published this year, so should still be in the shops.
http://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/Dead-Peoples-Music/2743518/