Nut Allergies are NOT Funny!

Allergies

allergies

 

8. Those a**holes whose nut allergies have ruined peanuts on planes for everybody

via Lost Luggage, Delays, and Other Problems with Air Travel.

Came across this tongue in cheek article in my FB feed along with a response from Scratch or Sniff.

It is difficult for me to understand, why people are offended by anyone, with a severe, potentially fatal nut allergy, requesting fellow passengers on a plane to please refrain from eating nuts.

Having a grandchild with an allergy to peanuts and tree nuts has made me fully aware of how children and adults live with these types of allergies. Monitoring what our grandchild eats is a constant worry for her mom and us as grandparents. Allergic kids pose a serious concern for families.

Ingestion of nuts, skin exposure or inhaling the dust from nuts can cause anaphylaxis and end a child’s life in a matter of minutes.

allergies

Using this potentially fatal allergy dilemma as humor and adding this to a list of annoyances during air travel is, in my opinion, thoughtless. We all have snarky comments about air travel these days but if someone was in danger of dying, I would never even think to eat a handful of nuts or complain about my child not being able to eat his PB&J sandwich inflight.

Seriously, just how selfish and unfeeling have we become when traveling?

It seems that there is no longer empathy for the human condition, no matter what it is. Just a few days ago, I read where an UBER driver told a cancer patient she deserved her cancer when she cancelled her booking a few seconds after placing a reservation because she left her head scarf at her chemo treatment. WTH? Have we become that callous?

It seems a bit like “compassion fatigue ” to me. We are bombarded on a daily basis with outrageous news about horrible events occurring around the world. Even the television father that many grew up with on the Cosby Show has recently fallen from grace after accusations of being a sexual predator of women. There is so much sad news that we have become somewhat numb to serious and sad events

Empathy is something we as parents and grandparents are trying to foster in our children and grandchildren. Finding small opportunities to grow empathy in our kids is not easy, especially when we make fun of  “nut allergies” which many kids and soon to be adults experience. Even if a child is not allergic, they will have friends that will be allergic. Will they avoid these kids or will they be inclusive of them and avoid nuts in their own lunches so they can sit with their friends, who are many times ostracized to a nut-free table at school.

I would hope in general, people become more aware of the seriousness of allergies and the risk of anaphylaxis thereby becoming more tolerant and empathic when they are asked to avoid nuts when traveling on a crowded airplane.

It is just a start!

Germ phobia…

Flying with small children sparks anxiety in the most unflappable parent. Aside from having to prepare food and activities to fill the endless hours of travel, we need to worry about the spate of superbugs lurking on every interior surface. Take a page from high wattage germ-o-phobe playbook and learn develop a cootie arsenal a la Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth, Katie Holmes, Jessica Alba and Matt Lauer. Best bets to keep you healthy at 32,000 feet?  Antiseptic spritzers, airline seat covers , portable air purifiers and a good old nasal spray.

via Katie Holmes part of THE NEW MILE HIGH CLUB | Hollywood Hot Moms.

If you are germ phobic you are not alone. Airplanes are loaded with bacteria and viruses but there are ways to thwart them.

We just traveled roundtrip to the East coast last week and two out of three of us got sick with viral infections that made our “vacation” miserable and carried over to our homecoming.

I, for one, am wondering if any of these suggestions would have helped stave off these ferocious viruses.

Just the thought of carrying any more “stuff” on board makes me crazy …never mind what those around me will be thinking when I begin wiping down my seat and covering it top to bottom with a barrier seat cover.

What do you think…would you be willing to do some “work” to clean the environs of your space on your next flight???

Do you think these suggestions would help prevent infection or do you think that you own immune system will take care of you?