Constant vigilance!

Something I read on Amy's blog reminded me of this. Last year, right after we moved back to Seattle, we went to a local restaurant famed for its homemade breakfasts. I tested my bg while looking over the menu - it was in the 80s. I ordered coffee and noticed there was a cream container on the table. I asked the waitress if it was real cream, and she said, "yes, it is." Our housemate also got coffee, and takes it with cream. So we both had some coffee with cream. Our food took quite awhile to arrive. After about 30 minutes of waiting, I started to feel odd, so I tested again. My bg was almost 140.

I was confused for a minute, then realized I'd been drinking the coffee. I got out my diastix, tested the coffee, and it was right in the middle of the range. I tested it with my meter: same thing. It hadn't tasted any different than half-and-half, but it was pretty diluted in the coffee. When the waitress came back, I asked her again, "are you sure this is real cream?" She said, "yes." I said, "it's important to know because we're both diabetic, so are you absolutely certain it's real cream?" She said, "yes, it's real cream." I showed her the strip, explained it and said, "well, this container is full of sugar, so can we get a new one?" (I assumed that someone had poured sugar into it). Know what the waitress said then?

"It's nondairy creamer. We don't serve cream here."

Okay, so as it turns out, this restaurant only has nondairy creamer (loaded with sugar), 2%, skim milk, and margarine, presumably for "health" reasons. The food was actually really good (although some butter would have been nice), but we've never been back. I mean, she lied! Repeatedly! I can't understand why someone would do that. I've known people who are allergic to nondairy creamer. Anyway, what I learned was that creamer isn't a free food, so be careful out there!