Diabetics Are Fat, Lazy Slobs

Diabetics. They’re nothing more than fat, lazy slobs. They overeat. They never exercise – except when they raise the fork or spoon to their pie hole. They are all fat pigs. All of them.

Am I right? Or am I just a jerk?

Actually, I’m neither. But I am a diabetic. And I am growing tired of the way diabetics are portrayed.

One prescription drug company’s TV ad is so offensive that I find myself changing the channel to avoid it. If you watch carefully, you’ll notice every one of the supposed diabetics is about a hundred pounds overweight and can barely get around. And their print ad is even worse! The ad shows a man with a gut so large that he cannot bend over to tie his shoes, and a woman with ankles thicker than an umbrella stand.

Quick! I need a donut!

I can’t be the only one who has noticed this outrageous stereotyping of diabetics. If you’re lucky enough to not be a diabetic, I’m sure this is not obvious to you – and I certainly don’t blame you. I do, however, blame those responsible for these ads.

This is tantamount to saying all short people have a Napoleon Complex. Every overweight person got that way by eating six bags of chips and a 6-pack of beer a day. All blonde women are dumber than a bag of hammers. All black people go crazy for fried chicken and watermelon. All French people keep a white flag in their back pocket – just in case! Are any of those things true?

About as true that Tom Cruise is from the planet Xenu. Beam me up, Scotty!

So did you know that one of the most outspoken diabetics of the last few decades is a skinny lady by the name of Mary Tyler Moore? In more than one way, Mary’s my hero. She’s a champion. Mary once said, “You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you.”

Living with a chronic disease is far from wonderful. Trust me. It’s quite a challenge. It’s a full-time job. And we are not all overweight with severe inability to back away from the buffet bar.

Meanwhile, we see the loveable Wilford Brimley every day on TV telling diabetics to check our blood sugar… and check it often. Thank you, Wilford. No offense, but I think I’d rather see someone like Halle Berry do those ads.

Yep. Halle Berry is a diabetic. In fact, she has been the spokesperson for at least one company that makes products for diabetics.

There are over 246-million diabetics in the world. I don’t know the count for Xenu. But I do know that we’re not all the same. Yes, some of us could stand to lose a few pounds, but so could several hundred million non-diabetics.

Not all diabetics are overweight, and not all overweight people are diabetics. If that were the case, more than half the people in the world would be diabetics.