My week #1 encounter with someone who doesn't know a thing about the 'betes

<--- Current art obession: The Café Terrace on the Place du Forum, Arles, at Night, c.1888 by Vincent Van Gogh

Wow! The first week of class went fast and so did this long weekend!

I'm busy working on a couple of events for the organization that I direct on campus and trying to keep up on all the work that I have already this semester. I'm taking a block class on immigration and I think there was almost 100 pages of reading just for this week. When you have 4 other classes and 2 projects to work on, the reading isn't very thorough. :o)

At the beginning of the semester, I always have run ins with people about my diabetes. It came up when I was talking to a girl in 2 of my classes. She was asking what I thought I was going to write my senior seminar paper on and I was explain my interest in the 'betes and she said "Well, my dad has diabetes"- I assume Type 2 and am not really in the mood to have the difference in diabetes talk with her- but I ask, just to make sure. She says she doesn't know.

I can't get over how you live with someone and don't know. I mean, I know about my parents' health issues only so when I go to the doctor's I can give educated answers AND not look like a complete DUMBASS about my medical history. I just said "Oh" at this point, because I didn't want to get into it anymore than I had. It frustrates me when people don't know the difference between the two and really pisses me off when they have a personal connection to the disease and are completely uneducated. <---I'm done ranting, I promise.

So what do you all say when you meet people like this? What do you say to people that don't seem to care about a disease that affects MILLIONS--20.8 to be exact--of people and people they know---like us--on a daily basis??? How do you educate without being too pushy?