Pay No Attention To The Man Behind The Curtain - Or The Anonymous Blogger Behind The Hurtful Post~

This post was inspired by two people. The first and foremost is a fellow member of our DOC family who I happen to think pretty highly of. Her name is Kerri Merrone Sparling and I'm proud to call her my friend!

I am also very protective of my friends. And I don't like when someone writes or says nasty things about them.

And the second person? That person is someone I ABSOLUTELY REFUSE to give ANY credibility to, street or otherwise.

I WILL NOT comment on said offensive post,(and yes, I really had to marinate on that decision) written by said offensive blogger, except to say the blog in question is about working in an ER and the writer of said blog just happens to have Type 1 diabetes and this blogger is not a member of the Diabetes On-Line Community.

Nor will I name, link, tweet, or facebook said offensive post. If that blogger wants higher blog stats, they won't get any any additional numbers from this blog.

I won't give that person another comment, stat, or Google search term in anyway, shape, or form.

But as always, I will tell you what I think.

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Here's the thing. In the Diabetes On-line community and in life, we don't have to agree on everything. Quite frankly, that's a human impossibility & one should never assume that we can. And we all know what they say about assumming so I'm not even going to type it.

If you (and by "you," I'm also including myself in the mix,) disagree with someone in the diabetes On-Line Community, be it their blog post, personality, or choice of hardware, that's OK.

But tell them in a way that's constructive, professional and non accusatory - And make sure you get the full story before you press "Publish."

Here's a thought, instead of springing your thoughts on the person with a rant filled post, reach out to that person via an email and create a meaningful dialogue. A dialogue where both people in the discussion learn from one another.

But do everyone a favor, including yourself. Don't write about a fellow PWD in an intentionally unkind, verbally abusive and disrespectful rant.

Not only does it make our community look bad, it makes you and your community who staff the ER seem judgemental and uncaring. And it shows an incredible lack of professionalism on all of your parts. And since you conveniently write behind a moniker instead of your actual name - it shows cowardliness on your part.

And honestly, it's a turnoff. As people living with diabetes we face discrimination from others, both personally and professionally every day. Bottom line, we don't need harshness from another person with diabetes.

Diabetes is the enemy, not the individual(s) living with diabetes.

You want to make a difference? GREAT, then start by making a change from within.

When you're the perfect PWD/diabetic/blogger/ healthcare professional and human that can walk on water without assistance while simultaneously juggling multiple insulin pumps and blowing an a1c of 5.8, than you can wax poetic about whatever you want.

But until then, don't be the Diabetes Judge, jury, and Police Captain all rolled into one for the rest of us!

You wanted to make a splash, congratulations, you have. But I guarantee it's not the splash you hoped for.

Hey, I get it. It's your blog, and it's your choice to write about whatever you want.

But please keep in mind that like you, those of us who had the unfortunate privilege to read your words even once like myself, also have a choice.

And to partially quote The Great Oz, after I hit the "Publish" button, I will no longer pay attention to the man behind the curtain, or the anonymous blogger behind the hurtful post.

I'm done reading you - And I know for a fact I'm not alone.

You are not worth my time, energy, association,tweets or Facebook status.

And you're not worth my bandwidth.