As a type 1 diabetic, ordering a diet soda in a restaurant can be somewhat worrisome. What if the server isn’t paying enough attention and brings me a regular soda? What if the server puts the drinks on a tray and hands me the regular instead of the diet?
These scenarios are pretty scary for me, as I can’t taste the difference between a regular and a diet soda. I would likely drink quite a bit before noticing any symptoms of high blood sugar. In this scenario, I would end up with a very high blood sugar that I would have to treat with extra insulin; feeling awful; and worst case scenario, going to the hospital for extremely high blood sugar.
I have actually had this scenario of mixed-up drinks happen. I was at a nice, sit-down restaurant with my parents. One person took our drink orders, and another brought our drinks. I almost always ask the server if my drink is diet (I LOVE when servers put a straw in the diet drink and/or state what the drink is when they set it down because then I don’t have to ask). In this situation, I asked the waiter, who affirmed that my drink was diet.
Fortunately, my dad ordered a root beer that night, and fortunately, the root beer instead of mom’s regular Coke was set in front of me. I took one sip of the root beer and became rather angry. When the waiter came back, we told him about the drinks and that with me having diabetes, this situation could have been very bad. His excuse was that somebody else had fixed the drinks and set them on a tray for him. He really had no idea which drink was which.
What really makes me mad, and even though this situation happened quite a while ago, still makes me mad is I ASKED him if my drink was diet. He LOOKED me in the face and said that IT WAS DIET, yet he had NO IDEA if it really was. When I asked, he should have said that he was not completely sure. I would have then been able to ask him to bring a new drink and explain that with having diabetes, I need to be sure that my drink is diet.
I urge everybody that works as servers, please pay attention when somebody orders a diet drink. Ensure that you positively know which drink is diet, even if that means putting a straw in the drink. Understand that me asking if my drink is diet isn’t anything against you. I’m not trying to be rude. I’m only trying to be certain that I won’t end up sick, feeling terrible, or possibly in the hospital from having a regular drink. And PLEASE if you are uncertain whether my drink is diet, admit that and bring a new drink.
One is Diet and the other is regular Coke, can you tell the difference?
The one on the right is Diet. They do look rather different in this picture, but in restaurants that are dimly lit or that have colored glasses, it can be very difficult to tell apart. And though I can see a difference in this picture, I would not be able to look at these glasses and know which one is Diet.
