Spitting Mad

Recently, I was reading an article on CNN.com about a little girl who has food allergies. It was talking about her limitations and how one restaurant has started hosting an allergen-free night so that people like her can enjoy a great meal away from home. The little girl is very close to my daughter's age, so I was immediately drawn in.

Following the article were a bunch of comments and one of them, in particular, has got me spitting mad. It was from a woman named "Amanda" who has a daughter that only likes to eat peanut butter sandwiches. And her school is nut free, so she was complaining about what an inconvenience it is for her to have to follow the rule. She believes that if her daughter cannot eat PB&J's, it violates her civil liberties. So she has decided to send her daughter to school with one of these sandwiches, every day, even though there are children in her class that have peanut allergies. She thinks that parents should "Just deal with it!" After reading this venomous insanity I found myself getting so mad that I could barely breathe. What a horrible, selfish person. How is it possible that someone could be so vicious and uncaring? And I cannot imagine what values she must be teaching her daughter. Not to mention the fact that she is greatly endangering the lives of other children by being so callus! I am not a violent person but I can promise you that if I ever meet this woman, I might just hurt her. My day was consumed by rage. And after much introspection, I decided that I needed to do something to stop people like her. Now I am inspired to do what I can to raise awareness of this dreadful disease. And I want to commit myself in every way that I can to find out why there are more food allergies now, than ever before.

Let me make it clear that I fully understand how annoying it must be inconvenienced and to not be able to send your child to school with their favorite food. Why does your child's right to eat a PB&J trump my daughter's right to be able to go to school? It is not as if somebody has decided that they do not like the color blue, therefore no one can wear blue to school anymore. We are talking about something that could endanger the lives of other people. Because of this, I think that parents who do not follow a school's no-nut policy should not be allowed to send their child to that school. If for no other reason, it is a liability issue. Maybe they should send their child to a private school that allows them to be able to eat their beloved sandwich. And really, is it so hard to find an alternate to PB&J's? Why do parents think that their kids will only eat pizza, hot dogs, chicken nuggets and PB&J's? Yes, kids are picky eaters but you have to at least TRY to find something else for them to eat. Maybe something that is nutritious? Ella does not have a severe peanut allergy, although she is allergic to them. It would not be a catastrophe for us if she had exposure to peanuts. BUT I understand how dangerous these allergies can be and for that reason alone, I am willing to think outside the box.

Thank you, Amanda! Hopefully there are many more of you out there. My new mission in life is to teach you some compassion! And maybe then, we will have a better world for our children.