Rant about boss

Though it's truly unpleasant, grit your teeth and ignore her. She's uninterested in what's going on with you, and honestly, making reasonable modifications doesn't include being responsible for you when you are on a plane having a hypo.

While she sounds like a nightmare, she is also of no use to you and you have to be responsible for your own condition. As a result id suggest you find someone else in the office who you can teach about the glucagon kit and what to do in the worst case.

I'd suggest though, that if you are that concerned about having hypos while travelling and working, you probably need to review how you are managing yourself and see if there are things you can do differently to reduce the risk (and worry) of a severe hypo.

You have my full sympathy, I can see exactly what type of person she is and sadly I can't see it doing anything other winding you up, as Tim has said its best to ignore her, she obviously lacks empathy and will never change, however you can change your mindset which is to approach this differently in regards to keep her informed with 'stuff the boss needs to know' and draw the line at this. I had a boss once who thought I had the worst illness going and made a drama of it, I felt embarrassed to have type 1 and only lasted 3 months before I left. Sadly discussing health conditions at work is something that most workplaces aren't comfortable with, however it is good to have a rant and get it off your chest

Hope the rant has helped!

Just a thought - have you tried sending her info by email, people who won't listen might respond better to written instructions/ info, especially if that's coming from someone else (she sounds like the kind of woman who doesn't respond well to instructions from the people she manages) so maybe try sending links to websites.

Other than that ignore her sounds like the best advice.

Is there a first aider in the office you could have a chat to about what to do when hypo, just for your piece of mind?

Hi!
I am type one too, and I used to travel A LOT with work, and it can be a nightmare, I always used to go low at the most inconvenient times (prob due to all the rushing around through airports etc)
I think the first thing is to try and not let it get to you! I have had a lot of people say mean things to me disguised as Jest "oh your diabetes again" but i genuinely think it is a hard disease for people to get their head around, one minute we are saying we cant eat sugar the next minute we are sweaty panicking beasts devouring everything sweet in sight! ( well maybe that's just me!!)

I have tried a couple of things in the past, like asking someone to tell me what they think diabetes is, you can normally do this in a nice way, i try diabetes is so misunderstood... what have you heard about it or what do you think it is?

Also, you need to believe that you are an important person and looking after yourself should be your main priority, when you went low you should have sat down for a minute and treated, what's the worst that would happen? she leave you at the airport? imagine her trying to explain that to everyone in the office, sometimes these risks feel awful at the time, but you just need to make a stand once and it gets easier, you don't need to be rude or mean about it.

Also, she sounds like a drama queen, so I totally agree that perhaps she isn't the best person to have access to your glucagon injection, you prob don't really want her flapping around making a scene if you are in desperate need of treatment.

I am sorry to have written an essay, but I genuinely mean this..... being diabetic is hard, but we cope and most of us barely moan ( to each other doesn't count) you get up each morning, deal with your highs and lows and get yourself into work, BELIEVE me! this is more than a lot of people do! you should be proud of yourself! Don't let her bring you down

I hope things get easier at work for you!

How awful for you darling. But you still working and good on you. I miss my job had to give up three years ago not because of diabetes but joint problems etc diabetes just been and extra gift lol. Stay strong people like that could you imagine how they would cope!!!!!

Oh @Uny_ I feel annoyed just reading about your boss so can't imagine what it's like working with her - or being cooped up on a plane and/or trip with her, you have my sympathies!

I had a boss a few years ago - not quite as bad, but who did ignore any time I tried to explain about my diabetes, she would tell me if I was to have a hypo and passed out she would just 'dump me in the corner and call an ambulance to come deal with it when she got a minute' I constantly ignored her stupid remarks but when going low I get really irritated by anything & everything so would often give her a piece of my mind during that time

If there is an HR division in your company I would make a complaint to them about her attitude. I think I'd also try and get a brochure or something similar about Type 1 and the next time she starts with her misinformed garbage, I'd give it to her and tell her that her ignorance is showing and to never speak to you like that again if she can't be bothered finding out the details of your condition. What a moron!

Sometimes when people don't respect you, they will respect an authority figure. If you can get one of your doctors to give her a quick phone call and tell her they were shocked to hear how you are being treated at work, it might get through to her. (But be prepared for it to backfire in some way.) I'm not sure about UK law but I would assume that your employer would be held liable if you were to have an accident due to the unsafe working conditions she is creating.

But IMO the best thing we can do is work hard and get to the top and be the great bosses/leaders the world needs.

I'm of the opinion that you stand up for yourself and tell her that you've had enough of her attitude. In the nicest possible way and out of public view, but her behaviour sounds more like bullying than you had made it out to be in the first instance. Before you have that conversation, I'd suggest that speaking to HR would be a very important thing to do. The way you describe her behaviour sets a lot of alarm bells ringing and you may find that if you raise it with HR, they have had other concerns raised about her attitude.

You need to be quite careful how you handle her. I'm tagging @AndBreathe as she has experience with handling difficult employment situations and is probably able to give better advice than I can.

@Uny_ I had a horrible experience at work some years ago, so I totally empathise.

I second the suggestion to speak to HR. I don't see why you should have to ignore someone like that. Her attitude sounds ignorant and bullying.

What you could try doing is to ask her questions rather than tell her things eg with the Red Bull guy, when she said he'd get diabetes too, you could have tried a politely-toned "What? Is he prone to auto-immune illnesses too then?" This would get a response from her and show up her ignorance. I found asking questions like that did shut up a bullying colleague, I had.

Also, I would do what you need to. So don't rush to keep up at an airport if you're hypo. She sounds so ignorant that she may then think you're fine and just 'fussing'. I'd have sat down and waited till she realised I wasn't behind her.

I left my job because of bullying, but the good thing arising from that is that I now don't take any cr*p from anyone.

Good luck!

The thought occurs to me that she might be frightened of the situation and overwhelmed by the responsibility, so the easiest thing is to ignore it. You have other colleagues who can help you and are willing to do so. My advice would be to use your meter a lot more when travelling - just say something like, "I know you're uncomfortable with this but I need to measure my blood glucose much more frequently as I know I can't rely on you to help if my sugars get too low". Just like some people can't deal with blood, for instance, maybe she's very phobic about needles / injections and overwhelmed by the responsibility.

Its strange but bullying in the workplace can take many forms, however as others have said it would be wise to consult HR and see what they make of this, then at least it's on file. To be honest, the fact that you have needed to get this off your chest is saying that it is affecting you and regardless of who or how your boss reacts, this behaviour is unacceptable. Personally I would of sat down at the airport if I was having a hypo and treated until BG had normalised, this situation in itself was putting you in danger and your boss needs to realise that your health is high priority, god forbid but if something worse had happened then it would of been your managers responsibility to ensure you were not in danger. Good luck whatever course of action you take, but please put yourself and your health first

Get a new job! Jerks are not an essential part of an office.

Hi, how are you doing ? After reading your posts I feel mad for you, really I do. Diabetes is an unseen condition, people are normally only aware when they are told. A broken wrist you can see that ( I will get back to this)
I wouldn't leave my job because of her, there are many, many idiots and insensitive people in the workplace. Ignoring her, sending emails is doing any good. Drama queen comes to mind and someone who wants to be center of attention and in control, but honestly, one day you could say, " Do you know what, I am SO sorry to have Type 1 diabetes, so, why don't we swap, I will swap my diabetes for your wrist 'problem' that sounds fair and then you will see what it actually involves,", month after month, year after year, decades and decades, I would swap it in a heartbeat"..................................
She is an ignorant, ill informed moron and I would love to do a Father Ted and kick her up the backside.
Back to the wrist, I broke mine badly 2 years ago and unfortunately severe complications set in, (CRPS,) but it doesn't sound like she has and it's a case of poor, poor me !! Maybe she didn't get enough attention as a child and is craving it from anyone and everyone.
Keep your chin up and your head held high, good luck and all the very best, RRB

@Uny_ - I read your post when you wrote it, then haven't got back to it for a number of reasons, so @tim2000s 's nudge has worked pretty well.

When I read your post, your boss reminded me of someone I knew in corporate-land who was a complete nightmare; especially as she was in a position of some quite significant power and influence.

In summary, my interpretation is that your feel unsupported in your office environment, in terms of hypo safety net activity, and secondly, your boss appears to be pretty self-centric when going about her business.

I do agree with others that she may actually be pretty scared about the potential for having to inject you, in a crisis, and may even subconsciously, be removing herself from being around you to minimise the potential she would have to actually carry out that task. Just a contra view.

The reality is not everyone is a caring soul, and she probably hasn't been employed to look after you on trips. I know that sounds harsh, but I'm trying to put forward contra views to try to help you think of how she may be viewing things and to consider if some things could be approached a but differently.

In your office environment, is there not someone else who can be skilled in your deep hypo emergency treatment? Do you have an office First Aider? Do you share an office, or work in an open plan office? If so, should your first port of call not be those who work physically closest to you? If this person is clearly resisting the prospect with all her might, you should take control and take the potential away from her, by up-skilling other people. In any case, it is not an proper safety net if your safety is contingent on her being there. I'm assuming she has holidays, goes to meetings, even has sick leave, so who would help you then?

When the two of you are travelling, you may just have to do the best you can. If she's 100 yards ahead of you and you need to stop, unless you can summon the energy to shout very loud, she is useless to you anyway!?

How many hypos like this are you having? Is there anything you could do to perhaps lassen the chances of the airport type situation arising, by maybe ensuring you run a trifle higher when you're going through this process?

I appreciate not all hypos are avoidable, but if you're having lots of them, that that should surely be the primary focus of your efforts. Try to prevent the root cause. Clearly, that's very easy for me to say.

Initially, I suggest you think about the potential for taking her out of your immediate safety net loop, before you go to HR, because they will want to know what you have done about matters before talking to them. It could be that HR will then make a referral to Occupational Health (assuming you have such a department) to check you out and see what may need to be done.

Giving your manager feedback is always a tricky one, unless your company offers a 360 Feedback process as part of it's regular appraisal process (which I am assuming you have). It's not easy to give negative feedback without causing further discord, so in doing so, you really have to concentrate on facts, and documents situations she is likely to remember. It is also important that when you paint the picture of her shortcomings that you then don't just leave it as "what are you going to do about it?". That could been considered confrontational. You must follow up by saying something along the lines of, "When x, y or z situation arises, it makes me feel............"

Those feelings could be unsupported, unimportant, irrelevant, ignored, abandoned or whatever your descriptor words would be. Your boss can state categorically that she didn't do, or didn't mean to do these things, but she cannot tell you you did not feel as you did.

If that all seems a bit traumatic, then you could try to involve a union or another person to mediate in a meeting, but again that's tricky when you are, after all, going to have to continue to work with this person. She may be required to change her behaviour, but you cannot change her character.

If you elect to look for another job, again, it will be wise to try to really work on those hypos, because, in my experience you may not find takers queueing up to be your hypo safety net anywhere else either. In their shoes, at that time, they are dealing with someone who is very ill indeed. They have to assess the best course of action, then give you an injection you are incapable of giving yourself. I am clinically trained. I can give IV. I can insert lines in large vessels, when necessary, but I wouldn't be wringing my hands in glee at the prospect of being your hypo-buddie.

I'm sorry that's so very long, but I wanted to express some of the thoughts that have been going around in my head since reading your original post.

Really good luck with it all, because it looks to me like you have lots of thinking and planning on your hands.

Hat is a very thoughtful and well considered post, I my opinion.