Skating on Thin Ice...
This past weekend, the Central Ohio Diabetes Assoc. (CODA) held their annual holiday party at the Chiller Ice rink up at Easton. My kids like this gathering in particular because they get to ice skate and make sugar cookies. Santa was even on the ice this time - which was kind of cool, but also silly. Brandon was not fooled by this "fake" - but he still waited to get his photo taken with the dude. Guess he is hedging his bets at this late stage in the holiday season. LOL
It was at the event that a women whom I've spoken to at many other CODA events turned out to be a clueless moron. We were discussing a recent front page article on diabetes. The reporter basically went with the "fat & lazy" stereotypes that haunt those with diabetes. The reporter didn't even bother to mention Type 1 diabetes (Juvenille Diabetes), the kind my son has. I was so ticked off that I wrote a letter to the editor. This woman then pipes up that in her opinion kids don't need the "publicity" as much as the elderly do. "Kids get all the medical help they need - while the elderly do not." I was able to keep my mouth from dropping open from shock, but I wasn't able to bite my tongue and not make a remark about her opinion.
OK - first of all, I did agree that the elderly need assistance. My grandfather is a type 2 diabetic and is a mess. He and my grandmother need more federal/state help when it comes to medical care...BUT I couldn't get past the obvious socio-economic snobbery coming out of her mouth. I said, "Well, you mean the kids in THIS room get all the medical help they need...what about everyone else?" I went on to inform her that low income families, and the working poor, are not getting the proper care that those of us with insurance get. I reminded her that even those of us with insurance are overwhelmed at the cost of diabetes care and that sometimes people have to make hard choices about what to spend their money on. She got all snotty with me and informed me that there are very few states in this country that doesn't offer health care of some sort to kids...but apparently she equates a visit to a state run clinic as equal to her visit to the endocrinologist specialist she visits with her child. I told her (in front of a room full of people mind you) that she was mistaken if she thought the process to find that help was easy to navigate and that there are some out there that are left behind as a result. I told her we must advocate for children - and the elderly.
I looked around that room and saw a bunch of Lexus-driving, white suburbanites. There were three people of color there - an Indian couple and an African American man who looked very uncomfortable in the opposite corner of the room. Where were the poor black families? The hispanics? To look at that crowd, you'd think only white kids get Type 1 diabetes. I wondered if this woman had ever been off the 270 loop? I realized right then and there that these were "not my people"...and I did not belong in their neat, orderly world. I cannot relate to them - except with the fact that our children have the same disease.
As a follow-up to my last posting, I did manage to get most everything done on my list. In short - I kicked ass! LOL My giraffe rocked - I hope to post a photo soon. Brandon's costume looked great and he was adorable in the play. (He actually break-danced!) He also danced with this girl, Emily, who has had a crush on him since kindergarten. Her mother and I always joke that they will get married one day. It was cute to see them dance together.
Meg's birthday is this week - and believe me she hasn't let me forget it for a single moment. I'll be glad when it is all over.
Random Fact: My 7 1/2 year old son has a size 5 1/2 men's shoe size!!!!!!!!
It was at the event that a women whom I've spoken to at many other CODA events turned out to be a clueless moron. We were discussing a recent front page article on diabetes. The reporter basically went with the "fat & lazy" stereotypes that haunt those with diabetes. The reporter didn't even bother to mention Type 1 diabetes (Juvenille Diabetes), the kind my son has. I was so ticked off that I wrote a letter to the editor. This woman then pipes up that in her opinion kids don't need the "publicity" as much as the elderly do. "Kids get all the medical help they need - while the elderly do not." I was able to keep my mouth from dropping open from shock, but I wasn't able to bite my tongue and not make a remark about her opinion.
OK - first of all, I did agree that the elderly need assistance. My grandfather is a type 2 diabetic and is a mess. He and my grandmother need more federal/state help when it comes to medical care...BUT I couldn't get past the obvious socio-economic snobbery coming out of her mouth. I said, "Well, you mean the kids in THIS room get all the medical help they need...what about everyone else?" I went on to inform her that low income families, and the working poor, are not getting the proper care that those of us with insurance get. I reminded her that even those of us with insurance are overwhelmed at the cost of diabetes care and that sometimes people have to make hard choices about what to spend their money on. She got all snotty with me and informed me that there are very few states in this country that doesn't offer health care of some sort to kids...but apparently she equates a visit to a state run clinic as equal to her visit to the endocrinologist specialist she visits with her child. I told her (in front of a room full of people mind you) that she was mistaken if she thought the process to find that help was easy to navigate and that there are some out there that are left behind as a result. I told her we must advocate for children - and the elderly.
I looked around that room and saw a bunch of Lexus-driving, white suburbanites. There were three people of color there - an Indian couple and an African American man who looked very uncomfortable in the opposite corner of the room. Where were the poor black families? The hispanics? To look at that crowd, you'd think only white kids get Type 1 diabetes. I wondered if this woman had ever been off the 270 loop? I realized right then and there that these were "not my people"...and I did not belong in their neat, orderly world. I cannot relate to them - except with the fact that our children have the same disease.
As a follow-up to my last posting, I did manage to get most everything done on my list. In short - I kicked ass! LOL My giraffe rocked - I hope to post a photo soon. Brandon's costume looked great and he was adorable in the play. (He actually break-danced!) He also danced with this girl, Emily, who has had a crush on him since kindergarten. Her mother and I always joke that they will get married one day. It was cute to see them dance together.
Meg's birthday is this week - and believe me she hasn't let me forget it for a single moment. I'll be glad when it is all over.
Random Fact: My 7 1/2 year old son has a size 5 1/2 men's shoe size!!!!!!!!
posted by Rainbow Ally @ 12:21 PM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
His feet are going to be HUGE when he gets to be a teenager, what do you think?
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