Passenger with nut allergy wants FC flyers to forego dinner
Sep 23, 2022, 7:02 pm
#76
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We have a family friend whose family has operated a summer camp (previous to that camps) for something like 85 years. Over that time possibly 100,000 kids, not to mention 10,000 adults have attended or worked at the camps for extended period of times (Anywhere from 2-10 weeks as things have changed over the years...............A few years ago he was telling me about a trouble making mother whose child had attended the camp for a couple of years, had a nut allergy and they bent over backwards to accomodate............They stopped doing this when the following happened..........the child "witnessed" counselors eating a nut based candy on a field trip, and the aforesaid counselors were in fact over 50 feet away, and were actually on their day off, and the mother not only made a big stink about it, but when the camp did NOT react as she demanded (firing the counselors), he made it clear that the child could find another camp the next year which caused a big bruhaha.
His point was this......back in the 70's and 80's if he had 800 kids, they could be seen by either the camp doctor or nurse. There would maybe be 4 kids that required medicine to be regularly dispensed to them and half would be for allergies. These were real allergies. 'Today' he needs to keep a medical staff of at least 5 people, 2 doctors and 3 nurses, not just for insurance reasons, and litigiousness, but because perhaps 200+ of 800 kids are being regularly dispensed prescription medicine, and half of those for real or perceived allergies and other debatable ailments (not to mention all sorts of ADHD medicine, antidepressants, and all sorts of other things).
His point was this......back in the 70's and 80's if he had 800 kids, they could be seen by either the camp doctor or nurse. There would maybe be 4 kids that required medicine to be regularly dispensed to them and half would be for allergies. These were real allergies. 'Today' he needs to keep a medical staff of at least 5 people, 2 doctors and 3 nurses, not just for insurance reasons, and litigiousness, but because perhaps 200+ of 800 kids are being regularly dispensed prescription medicine, and half of those for real or perceived allergies and other debatable ailments (not to mention all sorts of ADHD medicine, antidepressants, and all sorts of other things).
Sep 23, 2022, 7:54 pm
#77
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I found it amazing when speaking with my friends mother (in her 80's) telling me how she changed her health in the 80's because she stopped eating Chinese food, as the MSG in it gave her headaches and made her feel ill. This as she continued the entire time to devour an entire bowl of Doritos in front of her.................There exponentially more MSG in a bag of Doritos than any Chinese restaurant would have ever put in any Chinese meal.
A friend of mine whgo owns restaurants loves to tell stories about people demanding non-dairy for their meals.................but then ordering Ice Cream with a wink.
No one doubts that there are a few people out there with extreme allergies, but such people are, believe it or not a teeny tiny minority. I have personally seen peanuts served in an F cabin, one passenger was asleep, everyone chowed down, the passenger woke up (she was seated across the aisle from me) was totally normal for several hours, and then later on when the FA was collecting garbage SAW an empty peanut pack and then started to have a complete breakdown about how "she was going to die" because people were eating peanuts around her. The FA's tried to console her.......she was having no shock, and the passenger next to her - who identified himself as a doctor - calmed her down by pointing out that everyone had eaten their peanuts several hours before, and it was incredibly unlikely that anything would happen to her. She then pulled herself together.
A friend of mine whgo owns restaurants loves to tell stories about people demanding non-dairy for their meals.................but then ordering Ice Cream with a wink.
No one doubts that there are a few people out there with extreme allergies, but such people are, believe it or not a teeny tiny minority. I have personally seen peanuts served in an F cabin, one passenger was asleep, everyone chowed down, the passenger woke up (she was seated across the aisle from me) was totally normal for several hours, and then later on when the FA was collecting garbage SAW an empty peanut pack and then started to have a complete breakdown about how "she was going to die" because people were eating peanuts around her. The FA's tried to console her.......she was having no shock, and the passenger next to her - who identified himself as a doctor - calmed her down by pointing out that everyone had eaten their peanuts several hours before, and it was incredibly unlikely that anything would happen to her. She then pulled herself together.
Sep 23, 2022, 9:08 pm
#78
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His point was this......back in the 70's and 80's if he had 800 kids, they could be seen by either the camp doctor or nurse. There would maybe be 4 kids that required medicine to be regularly dispensed to them and half would be for allergies. These were real allergies. 'Today' he needs to keep a medical staff of at least 5 people, 2 doctors and 3 nurses, not just for insurance reasons, and litigiousness, but because perhaps 200+ of 800 kids are being regularly dispensed prescription medicine, and half of those for real or perceived allergies and other debatable ailments (not to mention all sorts of ADHD medicine, antidepressants, and all sorts of other things).
Sep 24, 2022, 2:36 am
#79
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I think that this woman had been far from okay from the minute she boarded the aircraft. Clearly she must be delusional, since they have been nuts served with drinks in first business or whatever it is these days she thought that she could get that stopped. Not content with that, she appears to want the meal service to be forgone because of her allergy. She sounds narcissistic, delusional, with a greatly overinflated sense of her own self importance. I suppose people like that do look normal outside. Please be assured that I am far from concerned about her state of health as, thank God,, where she comes and goes no concern of mine. Why it is Miami attracts some of the worst type of behaviour, lunatics, and incredible eccentricities of behaviour, is quite beyond me. I quite like the place.
Sep 24, 2022, 5:22 am
#80
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Sep 24, 2022, 7:19 am
#81
Join Date: Sep 2009
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my son has a nut allergy as does my wife's boss and all of his kids
There was a time period 10+ years ago where doctors recommended no nuts for kids until they hit 1 years old. Which was absolutely the wrong suggestion (it has now changed to doctors recommending exposing kids early to nuts). Wife's boss has such a severe sensitivity that they carry multiple epi pens wherever they go.
Because my sons allergy was getting worse and worse when he was <5 years old I took him to an experimental peanut de-sensitization. Essentially they give you very small doses of peanuts for about a year gradually increasing the dose until your immune system doesn't reject peanuts. He can now tolerate small amounts of peanuts but unfortunately he still reacts to peanut butter and other nuts.
A little off topic but as someone who is nut aware I was surprised after 3 years of not flying that I was still being served nuts in business on AA. Not an issue for me as I love almonds but nevertheless I remember thinking wow they still serve nuts. There is a generation of kids that have high sensitivities to nuts as a lot of schools are nut free these days. I wouldn't be surprised to see AA stop serving nuts as these kids age into business class travelers
There was a time period 10+ years ago where doctors recommended no nuts for kids until they hit 1 years old. Which was absolutely the wrong suggestion (it has now changed to doctors recommending exposing kids early to nuts). Wife's boss has such a severe sensitivity that they carry multiple epi pens wherever they go.
Because my sons allergy was getting worse and worse when he was <5 years old I took him to an experimental peanut de-sensitization. Essentially they give you very small doses of peanuts for about a year gradually increasing the dose until your immune system doesn't reject peanuts. He can now tolerate small amounts of peanuts but unfortunately he still reacts to peanut butter and other nuts.
A little off topic but as someone who is nut aware I was surprised after 3 years of not flying that I was still being served nuts in business on AA. Not an issue for me as I love almonds but nevertheless I remember thinking wow they still serve nuts. There is a generation of kids that have high sensitivities to nuts as a lot of schools are nut free these days. I wouldn't be surprised to see AA stop serving nuts as these kids age into business class travelers
Sep 24, 2022, 8:01 am
#82
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I don't want to turn this into a covid discussion, but isn't covid the same idea? Peanut/covid could be airborne, but the cabin air is filtered and reinjected every 2-3 minutes. Pretty sure there are almost no cases of covid tied to being in your seat on a plane. Therefore(one could assume) peanut dust, which is a much larger mass, also shouldn't be flying around like a heat seeking missile guided straight for people's lungs.
The one difference is if meals are served to all passengers. You could pretty much guarantee there is a lot more peanut dust present than covid virus.
The one difference is if meals are served to all passengers. You could pretty much guarantee there is a lot more peanut dust present than covid virus.
Sep 24, 2022, 9:17 am
#83
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I think that this woman had been far from okay from the minute she boarded the aircraft. Clearly she must be delusional, since they have been nuts served with drinks in first business or whatever it is these days she thought that she could get that stopped. Not content with that, she appears to want the meal service to be forgone because of her allergy. She sounds narcissistic, delusional, with a greatly overinflated sense of her own self importance. I suppose people like that do look normal outside. Please be assured that I am far from concerned about her state of health as, thank God,, where she comes and goes no concern of mine. Why it is Miami attracts some of the worst type of behaviour, lunatics, and incredible eccentricities of behaviour, is quite beyond me. I quite like the place.
Sep 24, 2022, 9:57 am
#85
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I get the point you are making, but in practice this is not true. I have a severe nut allergy and the smell of nearby nuts can cause panic attacks that manifest in the form of allergic response reactions. It's not like anyone chooses to be like "I smell nuts so I'm gonna freak out", it's your own body working against you and you can't help it. Like for me, I know there is no chance I'll die, and I regularly work on mitigation techniques to help in those situations. I do fly first class on American but I won't eat the food unless every dish served that flight is nut free, not just mine. However, this doesn't mean that no one can eat! It simply means that I won't eat that flight. If someone next to me is eating nuts, I have my anxiety mitigation techniques.
It seems clear the person is a "the world revolves around me" type person which is annoying, but I do find some empathy knowing myself that allergy anxiety creates physical symptoms that are difficult to get past sometimes. I really hope they learned their lesson because it's bottom line it's unacceptable. I just thought I'd share a different perspective.
It seems clear the person is a "the world revolves around me" type person which is annoying, but I do find some empathy knowing myself that allergy anxiety creates physical symptoms that are difficult to get past sometimes. I really hope they learned their lesson because it's bottom line it's unacceptable. I just thought I'd share a different perspective.
Sep 24, 2022, 10:38 am
#86
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Sep 24, 2022, 11:05 am
#87
Join Date: Feb 2022
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I think that this woman had been far from okay from the minute she boarded the aircraft. Clearly she must be delusional, since they have been nuts served with drinks in first business or whatever it is these days she thought that she could get that stopped. Not content with that, she appears to want the meal service to be forgone because of her allergy. She sounds narcissistic, delusional, with a greatly overinflated sense of her own self importance. I suppose people like that do look normal outside. Please be assured that I am far from concerned about her state of health as, thank God,, where she comes and goes no concern of mine. Why it is Miami attracts some of the worst type of behaviour, lunatics, and incredible eccentricities of behaviour, is quite beyond me. I quite like the place.
Sep 24, 2022, 6:21 pm
#89
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I know it's 2 days into this conversation...but...
I grew up on a boat. Most of my diet was seafood, including fresh-caught crab...I would dive for lobster...etc.
2 years ago, I became allergic to shellfish, something I was raised on, and love.
Since then, if I smell (or see) lobster, shrimp, etc, being cooked, I salivate and feel sad. No bad responses otherwise, except a huge longing.
On the other hand, EATING is a different situation, as I know from firsthand experience. If I eat a steak that was cooked on the same side of the grill as lobster or shellfish, there is a 911 call in my future. And a whack with epi.
All the best, James
I grew up on a boat. Most of my diet was seafood, including fresh-caught crab...I would dive for lobster...etc.
2 years ago, I became allergic to shellfish, something I was raised on, and love.
Since then, if I smell (or see) lobster, shrimp, etc, being cooked, I salivate and feel sad. No bad responses otherwise, except a huge longing.
On the other hand, EATING is a different situation, as I know from firsthand experience. If I eat a steak that was cooked on the same side of the grill as lobster or shellfish, there is a 911 call in my future. And a whack with epi.
All the best, James