Chinese For Lunch.

"What do you want for lunch?" Joshua asked, as he climbed into my truck. I had just gotten out of my class at Mercer and had stopped by Josh's work on the way back to Wesleyan so that we could have lunch together. I take a class at Mercer, one of the other colleges in Macon during the week, because they offer several classes that Wesleyan doesn't and it gives me a good chance to get off campus. I told Joshua that I was still debating, and he suggested Zaxby's or Chinese. I eat Zaxby's about every other day it seems (I'm a big fan), so I decided to go with Chinese, and we found a place in the shopping center not far from his workplace.

We walked inside, the bell above the door clinging as we entered. I stared at the menu for a brief moment, saw that they offered chicken and vegetables sans-rice, and approached the man behind the counter. To this day there has only been one time that I have eaten a dish of rice since becoming Diabetic, and I found that I didn't like the direction rice pushed my glucose levels in. Rice and I just didn't agree with each other very well.

"I'd like the chicken and vegetables, please," I said, pointing at the menu.

The man stared at me quizzically.

"Erm..." I said, trying to figure out which would be the best way to convey to him my menu choice.
"I don't want the lunch with rice." I told him.

At this point, another man on his lunch break had gotten in line behind us.

Despite my best efforts he grabbed a plastic white lunch crate and started loading rice into it.
"Wait, no," I said quickly. "No, I don't want the rice."

The man starts shoveling more rice into the box. I wave my hands frantically. The man behind Joshua and I snickers a little.
"I just want chicken and vegetables! I'm Diabetic. I don't eat rice," I told him, trying to make him understand. The effort seemed futile as he hesitated for a moment, but then he dumped the rice back into the metal dish and called a woman who I assumed was his manager. He told me to wait.

The man behind us gets his lunch as we wait. As Joshua and I are waiting to get my correct order and the man is waiting to pay, he turns to me.

"My wife is Type 1 Diabetic," he says. "She doesn't eat Chinese often."
I look at him, realizing his laughing earlier suddenly made a great deal more sense.
"I don't either," I said. "But sometimes, I like to spoil myself," I said with a hint of a smile. "...minus the rice, anyways!"
I turned to Joshua. "What a small world, isn't it?" I was amazed at the random people I seemed to meet, who had connections to Diabetes,

The other woman finally came out. It took a good 5 minutes to explain to her what I wanted. "Chicken and vegetables," I said again, pointing to the lunch dish which was on the menu... "No rice, please", I said, almost pleadingly. After a few quizzical glances, the woman disappeared in the back for about 10 minutes. When she came out I had my box of chicken and vegetables... and at long last, NO RICE!

Joshua and I walked back out to the car, and he opens the door for me. The other man comes out as I shut the door, sees my and smiles. He mouths,

"That woman is crazy!," And I laugh.

Not only do I have Chinese for lunch, but, at least for a few short minutes, I have met someone else who I know understands what I'm going through. It makes me feel a little bit less alone.