[LaneyDoll]

Originally Posted by atomiczombie

That smell of food thing is a bit ridiculous in my opinion.

I have a sensitivity to certain scents and chemicals. I get bad headaches from heavy perfumes and the strong smell of bleach. Some paints and stains give me headaches too. If I walk through the perfume/cologne section of a department store, I end up with a headache pretty fast. I feel like I can't breathe for fear of a headache. I have food allergies to certain nuts, carrots, and fruit.

But that's nothing compared to my best friend. He has an allergy to sea food that is as bad as any I have ever seen. He can't go near it without getting hives and if he is close enough to it, he throws up. If he accidentally eats some, for example eats something that has some elements of it like fish sauce (often in Vietnamese food) he with go into shock and needs multiple epi pens and a trip to the ER.

He has to ask his friends not to eat sea food around him (of course I am happy to do that for him). He avoids the sea food section in grocery stores. He won't go to restaurants like Red Lobster which mainly serve fish. It is a reality he has to deal with and he accepts it. I know he feels bad sometimes asking his friends to accommodate him, but there really is no choice in the matter, because they aren't really friends if they won't care enough about his health to avoid sea food when around him. He doesn't expect the whole world to change for his convenience. He just does his best to navigate it while protecting his health.

My mom has a weird allergy to shellfish-she can eat it but not touch it. But she loves crab legs and will order them and eat them wearing gloves. She alerts the wait staff to the allergy and I promise, NOTHING gets you attentive service like an "allergic" person eating the item they are allergic to.