Seth, thanks for highlighting how proper understanding, compassion, and inclusive practices from businesses and individuals can make a life-changing difference for all families, who may be slightly different than others
Years ago, my husband and I enjoyed dinner with friends. When dessert chocolate was offered, one friend inquired about peanuts and was told none. However, there were peanuts. As our friends drove down the mountain toward home, this friend went into shock. Thankfully, through the grace of God and the emergency doctor, he survived. I will never forget this incident, which highlighted the seriousness of such situations.
Thanks for mentioning Delta here. As an employee, I can confirm this is something we take seriously. It's not a perfect system, but there are a lot of layers in place and ways to make sure everyone (flight crews, station agents, etc.) are all on the same page for any given flight.
Reading your piece was eye-opening. When I was still teaching, we banned peanuts from the school and you would have thought that we banned recess. Overtime, though, folks acquiesced, and realized how serious it was. We didn’t even have peanut butter in the school. Thank you for writing for this and thank you for including spaces that you are comfortable eating in. It was a pleasure to read you and I’m now following you.
Thanks so much for sharing this. Our granddaughter is allergic to foods across the spectrum, especially nuts. The article rings with her experiences, and her parents, similar to your family. Her eczema was so severe she started treatment with Dupixent, and she's cleared up...which has expanded her social life. Another wonderful side effect has been the tamping down of her food allergies, and last week she was able to eat hot lunch for the first time (her school is woke, so to speak, about tree nut issues, which we appreciate as she is still severely allergic). Her entrance into the lunch room with a hot lunch tray, her ability to eat the same things as her friends, and sit with those friends, was the buzz of the school. We wish you and Seth the very best.
You are educating me. It has been too easy to think that just being in the same room as peanuts couldn’t hurt. I will be more considerate in the future, and explain the severity of the allergy to other people around me. Thank you.
Beyond the specifics of this piece, the overall theme of compassion and concern for our fellow man resonates deeply. Can we move in this direction? I would like to think so but we are far too self absorbed at this point to make this happen. Whatever happened to empathy?
In this day and age, every food service person, especially restaurant owners and managers, should know you do not throw away packaging. I learned in the 1990s as a camp director to be able to access ingredients when I had a camper who was allergic to something, I think dairy. Not life threatening like some allergies but still would make her sick. And she could be around it, just not eat it. She’d never stayed anywhere or even had a month at school where she didn’t have a reaction and they were scared to leave her but she really wanted to come (had no reactions while at camp with us). That was the first time I understood the terror of being the parent of a child with an allergy. So good for me and all our staff to learn the importance of READ THE LABEL! Glad to know a lot of camps these days have banned anything peanut from their kitchens and their camps.
Thanks Dr. Bob for an eye opening look in something many are not aware of! The mine field they face simply to be with others could turn most of us into hermits! Yet they persist in trying to be inclusive of others and have a cautious, very cautious attitude for the safety of their son. Very impressive!
Good reminder on taking time to understand another's plight and problems. I have taken care of patients in acute respiratory distress, not a memory that fades. Thank you for writing and the restaurant guide.
We all do better when we all do better. When we consider how compassion, understanding, and action impact people like Spencer and his family we are at our best.
If you are ever in the Boston area, 110 Grill is a small chain that are very conscious of allergens. In fact the wait staff starts by asking if there are any allergies.
My wife, a school 'lunch lady' for 32 years, is very much aware of the peanut allergy and another, less severe allergy that's finally being noticed by food producers-Gluten. an ingredient in wheat. Our Grandaughter has a painful reacction if she as much as has a pretzel. We've grown quite adept at using corn starch as a thickener rather than the less costly wheat and more companies are producing gluten free foods. One aspect of this is it isn't always immediate as people don't react to it with the same severity and I believe even when it's diagnosed, it's not given the seriousness it deserves. We have a nephew that has Crohn's Disease and recently discovered that he also has a gluten allergy. Which we believe led to the Crohn's. Now, he's also gluten free and he hasn't had a flare up of his Crohn's since then which had led to hospitalization in the past.
Thank you!
Seth, thanks for highlighting how proper understanding, compassion, and inclusive practices from businesses and individuals can make a life-changing difference for all families, who may be slightly different than others
Years ago, my husband and I enjoyed dinner with friends. When dessert chocolate was offered, one friend inquired about peanuts and was told none. However, there were peanuts. As our friends drove down the mountain toward home, this friend went into shock. Thankfully, through the grace of God and the emergency doctor, he survived. I will never forget this incident, which highlighted the seriousness of such situations.
I’m thankful everything turned out ok. Thank you for sharing this.
How frightening!
It was. Thank goodness it all turned out well. And it truly made me more aware and compassionate.
Thanks for mentioning Delta here. As an employee, I can confirm this is something we take seriously. It's not a perfect system, but there are a lot of layers in place and ways to make sure everyone (flight crews, station agents, etc.) are all on the same page for any given flight.
We appreciate delta so much, thank you for the kind words!
My son is a teacher in Clarinda! Small world.
Reading your piece was eye-opening. When I was still teaching, we banned peanuts from the school and you would have thought that we banned recess. Overtime, though, folks acquiesced, and realized how serious it was. We didn’t even have peanut butter in the school. Thank you for writing for this and thank you for including spaces that you are comfortable eating in. It was a pleasure to read you and I’m now following you.
How cool is that! Spencer was lucky to have many great teachers at Clarinda! Thank you!
👍
Thanks so much for sharing this. Our granddaughter is allergic to foods across the spectrum, especially nuts. The article rings with her experiences, and her parents, similar to your family. Her eczema was so severe she started treatment with Dupixent, and she's cleared up...which has expanded her social life. Another wonderful side effect has been the tamping down of her food allergies, and last week she was able to eat hot lunch for the first time (her school is woke, so to speak, about tree nut issues, which we appreciate as she is still severely allergic). Her entrance into the lunch room with a hot lunch tray, her ability to eat the same things as her friends, and sit with those friends, was the buzz of the school. We wish you and Seth the very best.
Thanks for the kind words, sounds like a cool school 😎!
You are educating me. It has been too easy to think that just being in the same room as peanuts couldn’t hurt. I will be more considerate in the future, and explain the severity of the allergy to other people around me. Thank you.
Beyond the specifics of this piece, the overall theme of compassion and concern for our fellow man resonates deeply. Can we move in this direction? I would like to think so but we are far too self absorbed at this point to make this happen. Whatever happened to empathy?
In this day and age, every food service person, especially restaurant owners and managers, should know you do not throw away packaging. I learned in the 1990s as a camp director to be able to access ingredients when I had a camper who was allergic to something, I think dairy. Not life threatening like some allergies but still would make her sick. And she could be around it, just not eat it. She’d never stayed anywhere or even had a month at school where she didn’t have a reaction and they were scared to leave her but she really wanted to come (had no reactions while at camp with us). That was the first time I understood the terror of being the parent of a child with an allergy. So good for me and all our staff to learn the importance of READ THE LABEL! Glad to know a lot of camps these days have banned anything peanut from their kitchens and their camps.
Jackie, thank you for giving that student a great experience where she could be included. This is what the ADA is all about!
Thanks Dr. Bob for an eye opening look in something many are not aware of! The mine field they face simply to be with others could turn most of us into hermits! Yet they persist in trying to be inclusive of others and have a cautious, very cautious attitude for the safety of their son. Very impressive!
Good reminder on taking time to understand another's plight and problems. I have taken care of patients in acute respiratory distress, not a memory that fades. Thank you for writing and the restaurant guide.
We all do better when we all do better. When we consider how compassion, understanding, and action impact people like Spencer and his family we are at our best.
Thank you for this thoughtful and important article. I was unaware of how small an amount of peanut could endanger your son and others.
If you are ever in the Boston area, 110 Grill is a small chain that are very conscious of allergens. In fact the wait staff starts by asking if there are any allergies.
I’ll be sure to add that to our list, that’s something all restaurants could do. Thank you for the suggestion!
My wife, a school 'lunch lady' for 32 years, is very much aware of the peanut allergy and another, less severe allergy that's finally being noticed by food producers-Gluten. an ingredient in wheat. Our Grandaughter has a painful reacction if she as much as has a pretzel. We've grown quite adept at using corn starch as a thickener rather than the less costly wheat and more companies are producing gluten free foods. One aspect of this is it isn't always immediate as people don't react to it with the same severity and I believe even when it's diagnosed, it's not given the seriousness it deserves. We have a nephew that has Crohn's Disease and recently discovered that he also has a gluten allergy. Which we believe led to the Crohn's. Now, he's also gluten free and he hasn't had a flare up of his Crohn's since then which had led to hospitalization in the past.
We always appreciated Spencer’s lunch ladies- they always looked out for him and went above and beyond. Thank you!