rants about what i'm up against

Nutty or smart? Possible in-flight peanut ban or restrictions concern many

The federal Department of Transportation is soliciting feedback on whether to ban or restrict the popular snacks in-flight...

Jenny Kales, an advocate and mom of a girl with a peanut allergy, said some people have to be scared of peanuts in planes. But no one should be scared of a ban that would allow safe transportation of people with allergies...

"You're not going to become ill or die if denied peanuts or tree nuts for a few hours on a plane. However, if you experience an allergic reaction in-flight — and it's happened to people many times — you will get ill and can have life-threatening symptoms,” Kales said. "And all for a snack that can easily be replaced.”

...Passengers on the nation's airliners have suffered allergic reactions from accidental ingestion, skin contact or inhalation, according to a study. About one-third of the reactions have been severe, sometimes calling for medications such as epinephrine. In one reported case, the airplane turned around so the passenger could get a doctor's care.

Dr. Richard Hatch, with Oklahoma Allergy & Asthma Clinic, said a ban sounds like a good idea. But he said it first needs more research and debate on managing peanut allergies in schools and other public places, as well.
"It's an extremely sticky wicket. I don't think that it's black and white. It is important to understand, though that there are some people so sensitive that even peanut dust in the air can cause reactions,” Hatch said.

I do not have a peanut allergy. I have a tree nut allergy of unknown severity and a severe corn allergy.
I would assume that avoiding peanuts is approximately as difficult as avoiding tree nuts. I know that avoiding tree nuts is about a thousand times easier than avoiding corn. I can also tell you that having an allergy that's not in the public consciousness as much as peanut allergy is can be extremely disheartening.
Which is to say, I have an interest in this story because I have food allergies, though not an allergy to the specific food in question here. (And I'm going to bet - possibly literally my life - that almost all airline food has at least traces of corn in it. If it's processed, it's been in contact with corn. If it's fruit, it's likely been gassed or washed with a corn product. Et cetera, and I digress.)

I do not like being allergic to anything. It requires willpower and denial / disappointment. It's inconvenient to the point of hard work. It's isolating at best. When it's not best I get to feel like I do when I read comments like this:

CityGirl, okc 1 hour ago
Serious people, when will grown ups start being responsible for their own well being and their childrens? Stop taking and taking and taking. If you know you have an allergy to something wear your little bracelet that tells everyone so you DON"T get peanuts or whatever it is your allergic to. Stop taking and taking just because you have issues. Let the rest of us enjoy what little we have left. What the heck did people do in the old days? We wouldn't be alive I guess for fear of EVERYTHING in sight. This is so stupid!

SRSLY I DON'T EVEN KNOW. I don't even know how to react to this.

Then there's this gem:

joe, oklahoma city 2 hours ago
Just bring your own.

Yeah. That will really help the individual sitting next to you if he just happens to be extremely reactive to peanuts. Excellent solution there, Joe.

James, Oklahoma City 3 hours ago
We didn't have food allergies when I was a kid. I think it's all psychosomatic...

>>CityGirl, okc 1 hour ago in reply to James, Oklahoma City
I agree, like all of a sudden my mother in law became allergic to ciggerette smoke when she found the one my husbands little brother threw behind the couch when his parents came home.

Yup. That's definitely my problem. That was most certainly my problem a few weeks ago when I was in the mall and thought Hey, I haven't been to Penney's since Christmas, forgetting that I don't visit that wing because it also houses the movie theater. My little shopping jaunt turn into 45 minutes in the bathroom splashing cold water on my hives and waiting for the Benadryl to reduce the swelling in my face so I wouldn't scare (my) kids. Definitely mind over walking past a theater, there.

Maggie, Oklahoma City 3 hours ago
Seriously? You know, it is getting so ridiculous. Banning peanuts or peanut butter in some schools, and now the airlines. When I was growing up, I knew several friends that were allergic to certain foods. Their parents and physician made them fully aware of how dangerous the offending food was by the time they reached school age....so they knew, an d matter-of-factly told people they could not eat certain foods or snacks.
They didn't feel left out, or get up in arms, or ban others from enjoying it. They got an ALTERNATE snack. People just want to find a way to either sue or make others suffer. "I'm allergic to peanuts, but the airline was serving them, so I ate them anyway...."
I have also never heard of somone going into anaphylactic shock because of the minute "dust" of the dinky little peanut bags on a plane. If they are that bad-off, then their physician should have them carry epinephrine (because they are gonna have a problem in any restraunt or grocery store ), or take a big dose of benadryl before the flight...

I matter-of-factly tell people I can not eat so. many. foods. Maggie, you better believe I feel left out. I WANT SOME CAKE WITH FROSTING, DAMMIT!
And "I'm allergic to peanuts, but the airline was serving them, so I ate them anyway...." HA! Hahahaha! You know what? Sometimes I eat foods with trace amount of processed corn in them (citric acid, for instance), because it's so. hard. to avoid and I get wanty and hungry. But I take responsibility for that, and there's no way in hell I'm eating nachos unless I'm feeling suicidal. I've been in the emergency room with blue fingernails, and lemme tell ya, Mags, stomach cramps worse than labor pains (which I went through after my epidural wore off, so I can compare) and a blood pressure of 70/40 is not my idea of a vacation. Having my face swollen for several days isn't either. I'm a bit vain for that.

Mike, Oklahoma City 6 hours ago
This country has become the biggest bunch of whiners in the world. Wouldn't it be easy for the airlines to keep some epenephrine on board? I bet they already do. The masses are being bent every day by some half-brained whiner of something. One in how many thousands have a problem with peanuts on the plane and everyone else has to say.. ok.. I understand you aren't able to not open the bag of peanuts even though you know you are allergic to them. Let's cover for your stupidity. duhh.. grrr..

Mike, nuts aren't being (considered to be) taken away from allergic individuals. They're being (considered to be) taken away from others who may open them and therefore exposing the sensitive to nut protein in the recycled air in the jet. (Though of course Maggie doesn't think that anyone can have a reaction from the minute "dust" of the dinky little bags.)

eddie 8 hours ago
i'm alergic to fat people in the seat next to me on an airplane.if you can ban peanuts on airplanes why not heftys?as they pin me up against armrest i break out in a sweat.

>>CityGirl, okc 56 minutes ago in reply to eddie
Or stop people from wearing perfume, deoderant, depends, lipstick, lotion, eating breath mints, wearing socks or underwear. See this is just stupid.

OK, first, Eddie, you're a jerk. Very insensitive and intolerant. ALSO I'M SICK OF PEOPLE SAYING "ALLERGIC" when they are just bitching about not liking something. (I think I'm allergic to you using the word in that manner. :P)
Second, CityGirl, you need to learn to spell.
Third, I'm allergic to half of that stuff because of the corn involved in making it.
And I'm not asking anyone to discontinue using items to which I'm allergic, though I can't tell you how much I appreciate it when it's not in use in my immediate area. Sometimes the most innocuous stuff makes me feel so incredibly miserable; discombobulated, tired, with a throat that feels like I'm coming down with tonsillitis or strep. I know I'm just one versus "everyone else." My goodness, I don't want to impose! But when I'm around cardboard or someone chewing gum, for instance, that's an imposition on my health.

For the record, at this point, I'm not certain that certain foods should be completely banned - in fact, I think that in some cases, society has been conditioned to overreact (which, in some cases, may then set someone up for a massive health scare due to a "cry wolf" effect.)
But I think it's just common sense to eliminate as many traces of peanuts or nuts as possible on a flight if it's known that an allergic individual will be flying on it. People with severe allergies may be a small minority, but they've just as much right to travel in comfort and safety as anyone else.