T1 for 14 years here - I am friends with a TON of other T1s because I'm a big part of my local diabetes fitness community and volunteer a lot of my time. It's very helpful to share management tips/tricks - things only another person with T1 would know. I'm also a student nurse and hope to become a CDE so I love talking and learning more about the disease.
As for checking your BG and giving yourself insulin in public, I can understand not wanting to answer a bunch of questions and therefore not wanting to do it out in the open, but I find with me, I'm much less likely to "forget" to check my BG or bolus the more I'm just "in your face" about it.
I keep my meter open and my CGM and iPhone (with GB app) all out and right in front of me on my desk when I'm at work. I explain what my CGM is to my professors and keep it with me on my desk during class and exams... I don't hesitate at all to pull my pump out during a meeting and give myself a bolus if I need it. The more I make it a seamless part of my life, the better control I find I have over it. Nobody should be embarrassed of this disease. Even if people are misinformed about it, it's a great way to educate them.
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