r/AmIOverreacting • u/MeanderingDragon • Mar 06 '26

💼work/career AIO about this text I got from HR?

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So to preface, I'm Type 1 diabetic, which means I have to take multiple daily insulin injections to live. I typically take 5-8 shots per day, and while it isn't fun, it is routine and necessary.

I was at work this morning and they had a small amount of food out for some sort of 'employee appreciation' which reminded me I hadn't had any insulin yet and my glucose levels were getting too high. I took a shot of insulin, got some breakfast, and went to my desk. A few minutes later, this text arrives.

I can understand that shots make some people uncomfortable. Trust me, I'm one of those people. But I have to take them anyway. Am I overreacting to think that if you don't want to see me talking a shot, you can turn your head? Should I have to go to the bathroom which only gets cleaned twice a week, and take my shots in secret like it's a drug addiction? Perhaps it is just me, but I feel that not everything in life that makes us a little uncomfortable is something that has to be pushed out of sight. Sometimes we would benefit more from understanding, acceptance, and perhaps acclimation.

Also for the record, while they say they "mentioned this several times", our HR manager scolded me once maybe two or three years ago publicly during lunch in our cafeteria. I ignored it that time, because friends sitting around me supported me after HR walked off.

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72

u/Live_Angle4621 Mar 06 '26

The text didn’t say bathroom, op did. I assume HR meant OP’s desk rather than the eating area 

56

u/katobye Mar 06 '26

This is what I’m hung up on… like if they got this text after taking a shot in their cube I’d be 100% on their side. But this was in the breakroom. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask “please don’t tend to personal needs in common areas”

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u/Baby-Giraffe286 Mar 06 '26

Insulin has to be refrigetated. If it was done in a commen area then that means the only place available with proper refridgeration is the commen area. So the employer is still the one not providingnproper accomodation. You would prefer that the op wave needles all around the office going back and forth to their desk?

25

u/ScrabbleSoup Mar 07 '26

It is also quite commonly taken right before eating which is why I saw a friend do it every day at lunch. I lived. (As did the friend, thanks to the insulin shots)

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u/Live_Angle4621 Mar 06 '26

Op could get a mini fridge next to desk. But I don’t know why it would be that hard to get insulin from the fridge? Unless you are thinking this is very large office so the break room is far 

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u/mxzf Mar 06 '26

Op could get a mini fridge next to desk

And by that I assume you mean that OP's company couple provide a mini-fridge next to their desk for their medical needs. Because storing medication in the fridge is a reasonable ADA accommodation; if the company wants OP to store it elsewhere, they should provide a spot.

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u/Silvere01 Mar 07 '26

Once "opened", insulin is good for 30 days at average temps. If they are taking 5-8 shots a day, no chance they arent working through that opened one within 30 days.

The refrigeration is for the closed ones.

5

u/Caffe_Freddo Mar 07 '26

I’m a T1D and use less insulin than most because I’m very insulin sensitive. My insulin can last me more than a month because of this. There are a lot of diabetics that also ration their insulin because of ridiculous prices from pharmaceuticals. We do not know OPs situation but your comment just seems very tone deaf.

3

u/Silvere01 Mar 07 '26

Im T1D too, and how long your insulin lasts once opened depends on your insulin itself. And the absolute majority of it safely lasts for 30 days.

And the key thing here is when it is opened. My comment is not tone deaf, you are just dangerously misinformed. Not that it likely matters too much depending on how long over the 30 days you go, but its generally considered the discarding point regardless of storage, as the effectiveness decline becomes stronger.

2

u/BunniWhite Mar 08 '26

30 days out of the fridge is fine once opened. Once opened its supposed to be discarded after 30 days whether refrigerated or not per the manufacture. And to add on, it doesn't make the medicine "bad" persay but decreases effectiveness due to break down. With enough break down it then becomes to clump or get cloudy and then you def dont want to inject if it changes colors.

They arent being tone deaf bud. Just giving relevant info.

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u/AggressivePoem479 Mar 07 '26

In theory - it will last better and retain effectiveness if you keep it in the fridge even during that 30 day window. It’s so expensive you want to take the best care of it to avoid the risk of it going off

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u/Silvere01 Mar 07 '26

There is no reasonable effectiveness loss in those 30 days.

You keep it in the fridge if you live in an area where its likely to be exposed to non-average temperatures, which makea it go bad.

2

u/Baby-Giraffe286 Mar 07 '26

You are supossed to keep it in the fridge always. The insertion package says not to leave it out if at all possible because it affects the medication.

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u/Silvere01 Mar 07 '26

There is no reasonable effectiveness affection within those 30 days.

You are "supposed" to keep it refrigerated if you live in areas that often go beyond average temperatures, because at that point it starts breaking down and actually becomes ineffective.

1

u/Baby-Giraffe286 Mar 07 '26

And you know where OP lives?

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u/Silvere01 Mar 07 '26

I know they are working in a office, so unless everyone in there is dying of heatstroke...

1

u/Baby-Giraffe286 Mar 07 '26

Offices often change the air when people are not in the building to save money

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u/Silvere01 Mar 07 '26

Are you implying the alternative for him thats happening is him leaving the pen outside unsupervised while he is not there over night, even though he needs it?

Excuse me what

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u/groovyfirechick Mar 09 '26

Not all insulin needs refrigeration

8

u/OriginalFriend2427 Mar 07 '26

I cannot imagine being so fragile that an adult quietly tending to medical needs is an issue. Sorry you are uncomfortable, but people gotta live??

3

u/_teach_me_your_ways_ Mar 07 '26

Society has coddled unreasonable pearl clutchers forever and continues to do so.

0

u/spacestonkz Mar 06 '26

please don't tend to personal needs in common areas

Wut. A break room is solely for personal needs. It's not company needs. Jim eating his sandwich grosses me out with the way he does it, and he's not benefiting me by tending to his personal hunger needs, but I won't tell him not to eat in the break room.

If the company wants a separate medical use area, they must provide it. I worked at a place that had a first aid room with sectioned off cubicals with curtains. Some had benches to lay down on (migraines, fainting), others had chairs and tables for insulin/breast pumping/whatever. Also had a fridge and some basic supplies, along with a few emergency snacks/juice boxes, and water bottles. Quiet, comfortable, and private. I was pleased to go there for a medical need.

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

[deleted]

25

u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

OP went to their desk AFTER taking the insulin shot.

21

u/kaoslogical Mar 06 '26

After taking the shot and grabbing a plate of the food that reminded them to take their shot. Sounds like op was in the wrong here.

2

u/Costato Mar 06 '26

There’s no in the wrong here… she took an insulin shot so she can eat. How frustrating would it be to have to go somewhere private every time u need to take a shot to eat or correct ur blood sugar. It takes two seconds and no one has to look.

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u/goldkarp Mar 06 '26

Or get the food, go to your desk, and take the shot before you start eating

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u/Hugo_5t1gl1tz Mar 06 '26

Seriously lol. How absurd to think OP has to accommodate others. I can understand being polite, especially if you have a co-worker you know is squeamish about needles, but otherwise OP is just fine.

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u/The_Arukado Mar 06 '26

It doesn't matter where they did the shot. They aren't in the wrong wither way

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u/mah_korgs_screwed Mar 06 '26

Of course it matters where. Waltzing over to someone else’s desk and taking a shot there wouldn’t be appropriate. Taking a shot in a meeting room during the weekly updates scrum wouldn’t be appropriate either. 

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u/polypeach Mar 06 '26

Incorrect. Treatment of high or low blood sugar can happen when and where it needs to under the ADA, ACA (accessible Canada act), and most of Europe’s anti-disability-discrimination laws.

I’ve had postgrad classes in Disability Studies, am an accessibility expert. I’ve also had type 1 diabetes for 28 years and have had to get into the legal battles with middle and high schools, universities, workplaces, etc.

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u/mah_korgs_screwed Mar 07 '26

“ when and where it needs to ”

Indeed. ‘needs to’. Needs…to.

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u/inspendent Mar 07 '26

High blood sugar can happen at any time, and sometimes correction shots are needed a couple hours after eating. Should you have to leave the meeting for that? Especially if you're discreet about it...

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u/mah_korgs_screwed Mar 07 '26

Yes, leave the meeting for that. It’s nuts not to. 

2

u/Puzzleheaded-Ad7606 Mar 06 '26

Exactly, OP has to take these shots to simply survive.

5

u/throwaway24515 Mar 06 '26

Needles make my girlfriend queasy. She has even fainted from watching me get a vax shot. So OP would need to warn everyone to turn away while she injects herself? Come on, just go to your office for 30 seconds.

1

u/spacestonkz Mar 06 '26

Your girlfriend's neck is frozen in place and she has no eyelids so she can't look away?

The poor dear.

0

u/psychedelicparsley Mar 06 '26

Weird to assume that everyone has an office to go to

2

u/throwaway24515 Mar 07 '26

They have a desk to sit at...

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u/psychedelicparsley Mar 07 '26

Right. That’s SO much better than a break room /s

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

[deleted]

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u/polypeach Mar 06 '26

There’s not a chance of someone getting jabbed with an insulin needle unless the diabetic person is waving it around uncapped or the person is hip to hip with them. A subQ pen needle is usually 8-10mm long. As long as you are standing apart from people and have your elbow out, you’ll be fine. It’s mostly just medical disableism. I had a pump so no needles at all and people didn’t want to know it existed or see me have a juice in an office. It was really weird.

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '26

[deleted]

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u/polypeach Mar 06 '26

Well, whatever they want, the legal precedent is clear that it’s not up to the workplace (or school in some cases) to make medical decisions like when and where treatment can take place, so I don’t know if the risk level matters in this case.

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