I have recently begun taking driver’s education classes. Besides the obvious worry of crashing into cars, I also worry about driver’s education because of my allergies. In my experience, any environment where there is going to be other people, especially children my age, there is most likely going to be snacks. Normally this is okay, but because of my allergy, this can be a worry. So, just to be safe, my parents called the driver’s education instructor and informed him of my allergy.  They assured my mom that they would tell the instructor.

After hearing this, I felt safe in my driver’s class. Just to make sure, I reminded him of my allergy the first day of class.

So of course, today, he comes walking into class with a big box of cookies, and shouted that it was “cookie day.” The cookies were packaged, so I went up to check the label to see if they were safe, when he threw away the label before I could ask to see it. So I had to sit through a two hour class when everyone was eating potentially deadly cookies, touching things with the hands that touched the cookies, etc.

Realistically, I knew I would be okay. I was sad that I couldn’t have the cookies of course, but I figured that I would survive. However, this is the real danger of allergies. It isn’t the thing that you are allergic to, but the people that don’t understand. The severity of food allergies is misunderstood all the time. Today wasn’t the first time that people misunderstood my allergy and potentially put me in danger, and it definitely will not be the last. However, I believe that education of allergies can severely reduce the amount of events like this, which is one of the main reasons I started this blog. I want to spread the word that food allergies aren’t just something to ignore, but they are a big deal.

It’s frustrating to me that events like that happen so often. However, I am happy that I am able to turn my frustration into something productive. Instead of being angry at people who do not know better, I can do so much more trying to educate them. So, I hope that you, my readers, spread the word about allergies, like I am trying to do, especially if you have food allergies yourselves. Also, to you readers that care to learn, thank you for your time and support.

Until next time!

Gary