I think I am going to have to revise my previous answer. At target, walmart, etc...No, I am not going to say anything to the lady pushing the cart. I myself am quite guilty of allowing my preschoolers to snack while I am shopping. Peanut free food, but still food. But, if while at the nutcraker someone decides to open a Reese's in the chair beside or behind us, I am absolutely going to say something! If it actually puts my child in immediate danger, rather than situation where I can move my cart to next aisle, YES...I will speak up.
One time at Kroger, the girl at the register was eating a Snickers and sitting it down beside the register while scanning. I saw this after a few items and did move to another line. She felt awful but many people looked at me like I was crazy! I did not want her contaminated hands touching all the food I was bringing home. And then I wondered how many people had just eaten nut products w/o washing hands and I just didn't SEE it. KWIM?

I remember once in my synagogue a lady in front of me took out peanut butter crackers to give to her child. It was a long day in synagogue.
I told her that the next day my son would be with us for services and if she is there would she please bring something besides peanut butter? She told me her son was not growing properly and she needed to feed him frequently. I then told her my son would die if exposed to her peanut butter and she immediately said she never knew and would not bring PB to synagogue again.
That was pretty decent of her and I had to do that in order to show my son how it's done.
We spend Christmas eve with our neighbors and they spend a night of Hanukkah with us. One Christmas eve she put out a bowl of peanuts. My son was maybe 10. He said "Sally I can't stay here as long as those peanuts are in this room. Would you mind putting them outside?" She did so immediately. If I had asked her she would have done it only after an eye roll.
I felt DS was well within his rights since Sally knew about his allergy. It went over well and she has never set out nuts since.
Peg

Quote:Originally posted by 3xy1PAinNH:
[b]
I also don't buy into the argument about there should be no food anywhere, anytime...last statistic I saw was that 1 in 6 children is obese. THE REST ARE NOT! In my son's school of 250 elementary children, I can only think of a handful that are obviously overweight. IMO it is all about balance. I dont' want to give my kids junk food or processed food ALL THE TIME...but it is okay to have. For me it is just as much about exercise as food consumption.
[/b]
Just truly wondering where you live that kids are so seemingly healthy?
Your jaw would DROP if you saw the kids here in Georgia where we are! I would say that 4 of 6 are overweight &/or obese. And the kids in Texas (from where we just moved) -- well, San Antonio is on record as one of fattest places in US -- the childhood obesity rate is HUGE as is the childhood DIABETES rate!
Corn syrup combined with little exercise equals a deadly combination, IMHO.
~EB

Quote:Originally posted by Corvallis Mom:
[b] Never mind all of the ignoramuses in the world who shall continue to slurp down frappucinos til they pop.... [i]I should know better.[/b]
Would that be directed at me? A frappucino is not really my poison of choice, and I'm hardy an ignoramus (nor likely to "pop" at any time soon).
Obesity epidemic aside, I still don't see how berating the general public about their eating habits helps spread the word about allergies. Before my DS was diagnosed, I would have thought someone was a lunatic if they did this to me.
Pegs example of her son at her firends house I agree with - immediate problem directly impacting her son. Someone walking by us in the mall (or park, or library or whatever) does not). And for what its worth, I can't even presume to speak for all peanut allergy sufferers, only my son. For as many people dealing with this who are worried about residue and such at say, Walmart, there are many that are not (and as a matter of fact not worried about too many things at all), so my comments about allergies to the "slobbering pig" who's chowing down in the produce aisle while valid for me, in my situation, will only be seen as crazy when some other PA sufferer dismisses them as too much.

Absolutely NOT!! (Definitely didn't mean it to sound accusatory if it did.)
Eating that goes on in public places like stores is just a huge downer in my life.
For those of us dealing with aerosol sensitivity, this is a huge problem. It would be one thing if we could just evaluate risk ahead of time-- but the problem is that you [i]never know[/i] where you will encounter someone eating these days. And sorry-- but there are times when that DOES pose an immediate danger.
As I said, we most frequently DON'T say anything. We've been forced to walk away from many situations where we had paid perfectly good money to attend. We go out of our way to [i]never[/i] inconvenience anyone else because of my daughter's allergies.
My point was simply that we should probably all try to [i]be[/i] the change we would like to see. Just as none of us would ignore a classroom ban on a food our child isn't allergic to. For me, that means no food and drink while I shop.
I make it a point to act (at least I try) in a way that I wish everyone would. Even if it sometimes seems I'm the only one. Actions speak louder than words, Caeser's wife, and all that. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]

must speak to this point again...
my dd is milk allergic and peanut allergic. yes, i will occasionally have a latte while shopping. yes, i wipe down the carts (and everything else in the world [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img])
when i bring her out in public. no, i don't think it's being a hypocrite. i would never, ever deem it appropriate to tell a perfect stranger in public what they should and shouldn't eat.
my little girl knows the world is full of dairy and that she must be careful because of her allergy. (she knows about nuts as well, but, let's face it, dairy is so much more prevalent.) i guess it's just OUR approach in OUR circumstance, but dh and i are not going to go dairy-free (however, we are cautious to the point of lunacy in our home) nor do we expect the world to go food-free. it's an unrealistic expectation that will only doom the allergic community to failure when it comes to educating the public.
NO ONE wants to be told what they can and can't eat (let alone, by a perfect stranger). be careful where you tread here. i have NEVER had a difficult time with the public and dd's allergies (and yes, we do inform people of them at her activities, at restaurants, etc.) -- not even once. i've never seen the "eye roll" from someone; i've never "got into it" with someone. patting myself on the back? no. i just believe that it is because i don't look to the general public to take any responsibility for her allergies (if she were in school that would be a different story). it's all on me, all on our family. ultimately, we must take care of ourselves.

Quote:
NO ONE wants to be told what they can and can't eat...
No kidding. But I don't think it is unreasonable to have restrictions on WHERE that activity is inappropriate, if you KWIM.
If I can agree that there are places where using my cell phone or lighting up a cigar is just plain rude and obnoxious (or even dangerous), then I don't see why consuming food and drink needs to be totally an "at will" activity either.
So I don't think it is really out of line for *anyone* to remind another person of [i]posted restrictions[/i] that they are currently violating. Be it eating, cell phone usage, smoking, or letting their dog take a cr@p in the middle of a park.
The ONLY times that I have ever said something to a person I don't even know have been in cases where I literally had no other choice and was in a position where I had to do something to mitigate an immediate danger to my daughter. Those I can count on one hand in SIX years. Easily.
I [i]have[/i] complained in public places which are posted "no food and drink" that those running the place need to enforce it or stop pretending it is policy.
Our reality is that the little things other people do for their convenience have a huge impact on my daughter's quality of life. Sad but true for anyone with severe contact/aerosol sensitivity. We go through quarts of Benadryl.

Quote:Originally posted by Corvallis Mom:
[b] No kidding. But I don't think it is unreasonable to have restrictions on WHERE that activity is inappropriate, if you KWIM.
[/b]
i think it IS unreasonable to regulate (and then, let me guess, legislate) whether or not people can eat/drink while they are grocery shopping or doing other normal, everyday activities.

Quote:Originally posted by Corvallis Mom:
[b]
Our reality is that the little things other people do for their convenience have a huge impact on my daughter's quality of life. [/b]
no kidding. ours, too. but i still think it is MY responsibilty to change the situation (which usually means removing ourselves from a potentially dangerous situation), not the other persons. it is MY obligation to deal with dd's allergies, no one else's.