In the news

I like to keep up-to-date on allergy news, as I'm sure most of my readers do also. (My readers? Who am I kidding? I just started this thing, I don't have any readers!) I just read this article on CNN, and I have to say I'm impressed. News articles usually only mention food allergies if someone is dead or someone was bullied, but this one also talks about the discrimination and social stigma. http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/16/nuts.allergies.exclusion/index.html?hpt=he_c2

I don't know if any of you have ever felt excluded or have been told you're over-reacting. I certainly have. I got so tired of the strange looks and the occasional speech on how I'm over-the-top, don't know what I'm talking about, and people like me are what's wrong with the world, I changed my dog explanation from "Allergen alert dog" to "Medical alert dog." It's a bit of a lie, I know, because it makes most people think of epilepsy or diabetes. But then again, I'm probably never going to see that random woman from the Wal*Mart checkout again, and this way I won't have to spend the next few minutes attempting to prove both my disability and my sanity.
In the article they talk about subtle, or not so subtle use of nuts to purposefully exclude of someone with allergies. I've been there. They talk about authority figures causally stating that someone's right to snack is more important than someone else's safety. I've been there, too. They talk about family members giving unsafe food to an allergic child, either because they were careless or because they honestly believe the child's parents are paranoid. Sadly, I've also been there.
Although allergy bullying and allergy deaths are absolutely important issues, it was refreshing to, for once, read an article that admitted the problems aren't all in what's safe and what isn't. Sometimes the problem is exclusion.