Transparency

10/27/08 General

There’s a commercial for a financial investment firm that intrigues me. In it, people go about their daily business with the total of their savings floating around them. I would like to see something similar come to life; I would like the ability to see blood sugar levels in the same manner. Why? A morbid fascination, maybe. But mostly, I just like the notion of transparency.

If I could see my blood sugar level at all times, the constant reminder might keep me more regulated. If others’ levels were similarly out in the open, I might compare myself to a true visible standard of “normalcy” and thereby strive for the same. I would love to be able to “see” the ingredients of baked goods and to instantly know the caloric breakdown. It would be so much easier to dine out, or simply eat a meal at home without having to consult the Nutritional Information panel. I wouldn’t have to measure like I do. Yes, a visible world would be nice.

It is not to be, however. I would place good money on such an existence never coming to fruition. Who would want their statistics displayed? Only those proud of their numbers—just like the investors from the commercial. The rest of us would cringe and try to hide blood sugar level readings that were not within target. We would wave away the ingredients of our meals before anyone could comment about what we were about to eat.

Maybe transparency is only reasonable in theory. For us, I guess we need only be transparent to ourselves. What is important is that we can see to the heart of the matter and know that today is one set of numbers and tomorrow another. We will see this through, regardless of how difficult the view.

Eric Devine, 30, has lived with type 1 diabetes since he was 12. He lives in upstate New York with his wife and two daughters where he works as a high school English teacher. Devine is an avid writer and is currently seeking publication of two Young Adult novel manuscripts.