Next time you see a person eating a banana or other fruit in a gym’s locker room, don’t be a doofus and ask if they have diabetes.
That’s what one day happened to me. I was minding my own business in the gym’s locker room, between routines, eating a banana.
Inserting consumption of fruit in between routines at the health club was an effective way to get in my daily fruit quota.
So there I was, sitting on the locker room bench, enjoying a banana.
Then suddenly, a middle age lady – a total stranger – appeared and asked, “Do you have diabetes?”
I mean, come on, not only is this a rude question (whether or not I have diabetes), but it’s a stupid one.
Since when do only diabetics eat bananas?
Puzzled, I asked her why she was wondering if I had diabetes.
“Because you’re eating fruit,” she replied.
Now, if this question had come from a five-year-old, I would have given her a pass.
But it came from an otherwise normal-looking woman in that she didn’t appear to have a genetic condition that impairs thinking.
I remained silent, thinking of how I was going to deal with this, as I had multiple options.
I then replied, “No, I do not have diabetes.” I cleared my throat and then said, “So tell me. Where did you get the idea that eating fruit is a sign of diabetes? I mean, really now. Are only diabetics allowed to eat bananas?”
She didn’t say anything.
I added, “Is it not more than remotely possible that in between workout routines, a NON-diabetic might want to enjoy some fruit?”
She shrugged and left the locker room.
Call me rude, but when a person asks a stupid question – and one that’s potentially very insensitive (what if I HAD been diabetic?), that person needs to be called out on it.
I’m pretty certain that many people with diabetes would not enjoy being asked by strangers in a locker room, “Do you have diabetes?”