Our glasses were poised in the air, seven friends and our waiter all gathered around the table.

The cheer was proposed, and it wasn’t by me. “To type 1 diabetes!”

“To type 1 diabetes!” we all echoed. Our glasses clinked before downing the shot gifted by our waiter.

Did we just really toast type 1 diabetes? To better understand this bizarre occurrence, I’ll have to start at the beginning of the night.

I was meeting some friends out for dinner and drinks. Among the people I was meeting was someone that I had recently learned also has type 1 diabetes. Naturally when you put two type ones together for the first time we have a lot to talk about! When were you diagnosed? Do you have a pump? What kind? Oh the omnipod, do you like it? Do you use a CGM? My other two friends listened as we bonded over our broken pancreases. Since one friend is a nurse and the other used to work for the American Diabetes Association, they were still somewhat engaged in our conversation.

Just as my friend was saying the word “diabetes”, our waiter came up to the table. “Oh diabetes?” he inquired. “Yeah, we just learned that we both have type 1, do you know the difference?” she asked.

At some point, you start to get a little cynical. I was totally expecting the waiter to say something like, “that’s the bad kind right?” or “that’s the one where you can’t eat sugar”. Instead he answered, “Yeah, my sister has type 1.” I knew this guy understood. He asked if we used insulin pumps and I took mine out of my pocket to show him. “Yeah I was the jerk brother who would chase my sister around with the thing you poke your finger with and try to poke her in the arm. Sooo do you guys want some lemon drop shots? I can put equal around the rim for you two.” I liked this guy.

The rest of the night continued with hilarious quips about diabetes and other topics from our waiter. At one point he came over to the table and asked us, “so do you plan on having kids one day?” Caught a little off guard, we answered that we did. “This asshole doctor told my sister when she was 11 that she may be able to have 1 kid one day. She’s had 4 healthy babies.” Although a little out of place, I appreciated that comment and the sentiment behind it. It’s always nice to hear positive stories of other PWD. Then just because this was the kind of night we were having, he turned to my friend and added, “so keep on having sex.” Wait, what? Was this really happening?

A little while later, another friend came and joined our table. As she took her seat the waiter turned to her, “So do you have diabetes too?” Laughing, she replied that she didn’t. In a perfect Mean Girls style, the table blurted out, “You can’t sit with us!” It was all too perfect.

Which brings us to the drinks. Another two friends had joined, bringing our group up to 7. Out of no where the waiter returned holding shots for the table and one for himself. “What are these?” we asked. “I call them diabetes #1,” he answered.

So there we were, 7 girls and our waiter, 2 with diabetes and 6 without, about to take a shot while toasting type 1 diabetes. It’s not a situation I ever really expected to find myself in. It was one of the funniest dinners that I’ve had in awhile. Living with diabetes is a pain, but here it had brought a table and waiter together for a fun and hilarious night. And hey, I’ll take those kind of shots over insulin shots any day! 😛