A diabetic woman on TikTok says her manager almost called the police on her after finding her insulin syringe.
The woman, Abby Gebo (@thegebos), shared a video reenacting the conversation with her manager when he found the syringe in her personal belongings. That video went semi-viral with about 80,000 views on TikTok as of Thursday.
“Diabetic story time,” Gebo wrote in the video’s caption.
@thegebos Diabetic story time #diabetes #t1d #waitress #storytime #insulin #insulinpimp #job #typeonediabetes #fyp ♬ original sound – Abby Gebo
In the video, Gebo says her manager told another hostess at her job that he may need her to call the cops but to give him a couple of minutes to investigate the syringe he found. Then he allegedly asked the other staff whose backpack he had just found.
When Gebo said the backpack was hers, the manager allegedly told her he “really expected better” from her. The TikToker says she was confused by her manager, who then asked her if she was holding the syringe for someone else. She says that he said she didn’t look like she’d have them.
Gebo says she became more confused until the manager asked if she was doing drugs.
“Do I look like I do drugs?” Gebo questions in the video. In response, the manager allegedly demanded that she explain why she had syringes in her backpack.
Gebo says she explained that she has diabetes, which she says her manager was already aware of. Her manager allegedly pointed out that his niece has diabetes and has only ever used pumps, not syringes, for her insulin.
“OK um, I can’t wait to sue you, but some people can’t afford pumps and have to use like vials and syringes,” Gebo says in the video.
Still not satisfied, the manager told Gebo to “prove it” and show him her insulin vial, the TikToker says. Although aware that she didn’t have to “prove” anything to her manager, Gebo says she showed him her insulin vial and the syringe together.
Gebo says her manager told her, “You’re lucky, but I’m watching you.”
The manager assured Gebo that he was only making sure none of his staff does drugs.
“And that was the day I quit,” the TikToker says in the video.
Viewers urged the TikToker to pursue legal action in the video’s comments.
“I would’ve gotten HR involved. its illegal to search your personal stuff,” one viewer claimed.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, an employer reportedly cannot ask questions about a worker’s disability unless they are related to the job and necessary for the conduct of the employer’s business.
Legality aside, several viewers said Gebo’s manager shouldn’t have looked in her backpack in the first place.
“Why were they going thru your stuff? the hell?” one TikTok user said.
“Why are you going through my bag?” another user wrote.
One user commented, “I wanna know why they were going through your bag.”
Other viewers who have diabetes or know someone with diabetes shared similar stories.
“As someone who’s mom is a type one diabetic this happens quite often to us. Cause my mom uses syringes we’ve had many waitresses almost call the cops til my mom and me explain that my mom is a type one diabetic and it’s insulin and she needs it to survive,” one user commented.
“I was out with my ex husband and he went to inject before dinner in a restaurant, the next table went wide eyed, and were like ‘there’s children in here!! that’s so inappropriate!’” another user said.
One viewer wrote, “I’ve had the cops called on me for taking insulin in public…bc I’m skinny and diabetics aren’t skinny.”
The Daily Dot reached out to user @thegebos via TikTok comment.
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