300

Living in Italy, you'd think that I would be so happy with my coffee situation.  Rome has incredible coffee, it's fairly cheap and easy to find.  But one thing I miss A LOT about the US is the ability to easily acquire a large caffeinated beverage to sip while I work, or to get an iced coffee, or to sit in a coffee shop killing time, reading, or visiting with a friend.  Most of this is just outside of Italian coffee culture.

And right now I find myself in Springfield, MO, the place I grew up, visiting my family and friends on a surprise visit.  Surprise!!

Highlight of the trip: meeting my 6-week-old niece

As I changed planes in Chicago on Monday, I paused to grab an iced coffee from Starbucks.  I was so happy to finally have something that I've been craving for months!

And yesterday morning, my family planned to stop by the ubiquitous 'bucks as a little treat.  Delighted, I decided to get a Skinny Vanilla Latte.

This drink is composed of an espresso shot, skim milk, and sugar-free vanilla syrup.  I can order it without feeling much guilt!  It won't have too much impact on my blood sugar!  Hooray!

Despite the Starbucks definition of what goes into a Skinny Vanilla Latte, when I order it, I always accompany it with the words, "And that comes with sugar-free syrup, right?". even though I know it does.  I figure that the more times I say "sugar-free," the more likely my drink is to be correct.  I usually also say this when I pick up the drink, just to triple-check.

So that's what I did.....except for that last part.  We were getting six drinks, and this order was taking FOREVER.  As in, more than 15 minutes from start to finish.  And it wasn't crowded.  By the time our drinks were ready, after a sort of dopey manager explained to us why we couldn't use our coupon there (it wasn't a "standstill" store, in the words of the young barista), we grabbed our drinks and left.  And I was so pleased to be caffeinated after a jet-lagged night of sleep which saw me waking up at 2:30 am after only about four hours of sleep.  Glory!  Large caffeinated beverage I could sip!  I love America!

Fast forward a couple of hours when we went to get lunch.  Before we headed into the restaurant, I tested my blood sugar.

300.

Only one thing could explain it: I wasn't given sugar-free syrup.  Or my insulin from breakfast just completely and utterly failed to make any sort of impact.  I knew that that couldn't be true.  I was feeling sleepy and groggy, but I just attributed it to the lack of sleep.

So I decided to call the store and let them know what happened.  I knew it wouldn't do me much good, but I thought it was important to remind them how important it is to make someone's order correctly.  I got the same dopey manager on the phone who remembered our visit that morning.  He listened to me, I told him that such a mistake could be extremely dangerous for someone with Type I Diabetes, like me, and that I think the barista needed to be reminded to make orders correctly.

He half-heartedly apologized and said, "Well, ma'am, all I can really do is offer you a free beverage..."  I cut him off and told him that I wasn't interested, that that isn't why I had called.  I didn't feel like getting into any verbal altercation, so I just got off the phone instead, and shook my head at how little he seemed to care that their minor mistake could have cost me a great deal.