Talking Allergies

i've asked this question a few times on this board, but i'm asking it again, how do you NOT go go off the deep end with jerky people who simply do not understand the severity of allergies??

i was at work today (hockey arena, it was an adult day tournament) so it was fairly quiet. i had a costomer come up to see what we sold, and he saw that we sell bagels, and i told him we did, and that we have butter or cream cheese for them, and he asks oh no peanut butter? (i love it when people ask me the same question when they don't get the answer they want) and i explained to him that we do not have peanut butter "due to allergies" and the man proceeds to roll his eyes, snicker and walk away!! it made me SO mad! i wanted to jump over the counter and lecture him on the severity of anaphalaxis.

i know that this is one allergy, but this one allergy has made a lot more people aware of what food allergies are and why it's important to protect people (i find 90% of crazy hockey parents are really good about our no peanut butter for your bagels policy to keep other kids in the arena safe which has to say SOMETHING for awareness) but the way that man was today just really upset me, and i kept thinking that this is the sort of thing most of you on this board deal with daily, and i wonder how you keep your spirits up when people are SO rude?

i think what gets to me most is the amount of people with allergies i come in contact with who are so nice about it, when with attitudes like these you'd have every right to be pissed. earlier in the week i had a guest ask me to please make sure i only touched the part of coffee cup that is not around the part she would be drinking from(which grosses me out about how some people will touch rims of someone elses' cup when serving them BAD health and safety enforcement much??) because she is allergic to wheat and she knew i could have been serving baked goods. she was so nice, i offered to wash my hands but she said just handling the cup properly was fine.

it's just so frustrating to see the two totally different attitudes when it's the people who don't understand, and don't have to deal with it who have their heads shoved the furthest up their butts about it! i guess i needed to vent, that guy got my blood boiling today.

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allergies - penicillin, benadryl, dust mites, enviornmental & chemical
conditions - dermatographism, eczema, well contorolled asthma
dietary - lactose intollerant, vegatarian

SunTzu's Art of War says


I will go through an entire school system to try and stop one person from feeding my daughter.
I will be pleasant, friendly and keep close those who are ignorant but have contact with my child (ei birthday parties).
I will seek to educate those who look for information to better understand.
I will correct false information wherever I find it.
I will teach my child to advocate for herself.
I will praise other children who advocate on her behalf.
I will walk away from those whom I do not have to associate with.
I will walk away from those who seek to increase their power by tormenting me-so long as they are no real threat to my child.

I hope that helps.

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Moderator
Daughter: asthma, allergies to egg, milk, peanuts, tree nuts, most legumes (not soy) & penicillin. Developing hayfever type allergies.
Husband: no allergies
Me: allergies to some tree that flowers in May
Cat: allergic to beef, pork and lamb

First of all I am glad to hear that your hockey arena does not serve peanut butter and that you take it to heart. My 3-year old son received tickets to a Toronto Marlies game for Christmas. The game is today, but he won't be going because even though today is designated as "family day" at the the hockey stadium (Ricoh Coliseum) they will be selling peanuts in the shell to participants! I called a few weeks ago to find out if there is any way he could attend by sitting in a peanut-free area - but that doesn't exist. My son's last RAST score for peanut was 17.5 and although he has never been in direct contact with peanut, he recently had a secondary contact to peanut dust and had a biphasic reaction (breathing, digestive and skin). So, needless to say, potentially being surrounded by families cracking peanuts in a large, enclosed sports arena is not a good idea.

The sad thing is that he would have loved family day at this event. His cousin and uncles are all going, they will have bouncy castles, slap shot contests, face painting and even an opportunity to skate on the ice after the game - he loves skating. You would think that for 'family day' they could abstain from selling the #1 life-threatening allergen just for this event. I don't expect any public place to be guaranteed to be peanut-free (armed with wipes it is usually manageable), but airborne peanut protein from shell cracking is just too risky. Has anyone else encountered this at other locations? Does anyone know if there is a lobby group who is addressing this already in Ontario?

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Son 7 yrs: Anaphylactic to eggs, milk, fish, peanuts, tree nuts and allergic to soy, animals & environmental + Asthma.
Daughter 9 yrs: No allergies!
Me: Allergic to animals & environmental.
Hubby: Allergic to deer, horse flies & bees.