Sweets vs. Sours

When I write or talk about diabetes I adjust my lingo to accommodate whom I'm speaking with. If I'm speaking to someone who is part of the "in crowd" of diabetes, I don't have to do any explaining. I can talk about BG's, A1C's, ketones, Glucagon, types of insulin, pumps and meters; no explanation required. If I'm speaking to someone who is not a member of the "in crowd" I have to explain what I 'm talking about, or just not say anything at all. This is how people have been divided in my mind as 'sweets' and/or 'sours.'

"But, Melanie, how do I know if I'm a sweet or sour?"

If you live the lifestyle of a person with too much sugar in their system, you're a sweet. If you are the caregiver of the person with too much sugar in their system, you're a sweet. If you are the significant other of a person with too much sugar in their system, you are also a sweet. I think you get the point.

If you don't worry about diabetes on a daily basis, you're a sour. If you occasionally put up with the constant worry and anxiety of a person or caregiver with too much sugar in their blood, you are still a sour (though your listening is always valued and appreciated). Not that people without too much sugar in their systems are "sour" people in the sense of being unpleasant; they just don't have too much sugar in their system. And therefore are excluded from the diabetes "in crowd" and the rest of us are stuck there. If you are reading this and you are a sour: please do not be disheartened! Us sugars would rather not be in the "in crowd." I prefer to think of myself as spicy (wink, wink) but whatever. The majority of us don't get to choose what we are, although a few select individuals do.

There is a special category of people who are 'sweet & sours.' These people are sours by nature, but choose to live closely knit into the sugar lifestyle. An example of these sort of sweet & sour people would be Ashton's nurses, Amanda and Jennifer. I've often referred to them as Earth Angels, and they are. They just choose to be immersed in a world where they don't naturally belong. And I am grateful for that because I don't know what I would do without the sweet & sours in my life.


So there you have it. You've heard before my opinion on how to mathematically figure out how many children you have and now you know another cultural subcategory that you fit into. Your welcome.