You can go along, can't you, quite happily bumbling on feeling generally pretty ok about things.
Even when those things include a progressive illness and some boxes of drugs that turn up with 'toxic' stickers plastered over them.
Yes, you think, this is ok, it's manageable. It's my life and people are generally aware of what it means for me.
I've recently had chats with one of those people about the impact MS has on me and the difficulties it throws up for many aspects of my life.
We've talked about my new meds and the implications of what they meant - that I'm progressing more rapidly than thought, that the big drugs come with the big side effects, that there's no guarantee they will work.
That my life is a bit more complicated than it may appear on the surface.
And just when you think they may have understood, they make a throwaway comment which indicates they really haven't.
So, do you pull them up on it - or just let it go for fear of being seen as a whinger, over-reacting or someone who has thoroughly lost their hitherto reliable sense of humour?
A few years ago I might have brushed it under the carpet and carried on, not pointing out that actually that what they said was quite hurtful. Not just to me, but to others with disabilities.
This time I mentioned it.
The next morning I got an apology.
It's really, really difficult to call people out on things. It's sometimes even more difficult when it's a friend.
But if there's one thing we should all be aware of, it's that words matter and we shouldn't be afraid to speak up.
