what's in a name

Happy Tuesday everyone! So, over the past 2 years of Emma being diagnosed we have certainly come across some ignorant people who have no problem at all sharing their opinion on what we "should" be doing. The cream of the crop in ignorance actually contacted me shortly after our 1st Hot Chocolate Sale that we held to raise money for JDRF. He saw my name in the newspaper article and decided to look me up and give me a call! Proceeded to tell me that he had a magical book that would cure my daughter and we would never have to worry about diabetes again! Needless to say, I was a bit skeptical and decided to hang up...lol. Anyway, i have recently come across a slightly less ignorant person that I would like to talk about at this time. There is a Grade 2 student from Emma's school who actually is also in her gymnastics class. She seems like a very nice little girl who just so happens to have a mom with very little common sense. This mother started talking to me one day at gymnastics while we were watching the girls. She told me that her daughter referred to my daughter as "Emma with diabetes". At first, i just chuckled and thought it was cute because there does seem to be quite a few Emma's at school and that was one way to distinguish which one is my Emma. Well, the mother continued on to tell me that she was SO sorry her daughter said that and didn't want her to be making fun of Emma's handicap! .....i will pause for a moment so you can soak that last statement in.....................yes, she called Emma's diabetes a "handicap"...lolol...it took everything in my power and self-control not to burst out laughing hysterically in her face. Handicap? Making fun? I understand my daughter's pancreas doesn't function like HER daughter's pancreas...however, i never would have classified it as being a "handicapped pancreas". I just keep getting this image in my head of a cartoon-like pancreas riding around in a wheelchair inside Emma's body...lol. This all brings me to my point of what is really in a name? Does it really matter what someone refers to my daughter's diabetes as? Why is it that most people seem to not have that all-important filter that is between their brain and mouth? How did the world become so ignorant? How do these people function on a daily basis without hurting themselves? I think the world needs a few more compassionate people and a few less ignorant ones...Needless to say, whenever I see this mother out on the playground now waiting to pick up her kid after school...she kind of pretends like I am not even there. Nice....lolol...I think I like it better that way. Based on my reaction and snickering to her "handicap" comment, maybe I had some part in making her realize she tends to say stupid things...one person down, 1 billion to go! Or maybe she's just an idiot.....lol