Signs Food Allergy Awareness Is On The Rise

Yesterday, on a group trip to Costco, Poker Chick saw the following sign in front throughout the store:

For those of you who can't read through the smudge marks and poor photography, this sign says:

PARENTS: Before we serve your child a sample we need your permission to ensure your child is not allergic to the ingredients.  Your cooperation is appreciated.

We're not sure how other Food Allergy (FA) parents feel about this, but Poker Chick was thrilled.  It was nice to see the store facing the issue and sharing responsibility for keeping kids in their store safe.  Of course, a cynic could argue this was just something their lawyers asked for to protect their liability and we went there too.  But the guy cooking the samples was very aware of food allergy concerns.  He explained reassuringly that the chicken was cooked in Pam with salt and pepper, and added it was a clean pan.  So Costco has clearly trained its employees to some extent.

The new app includes instant video training

More signs of change: check out this new app from the makers of the Epipen.  Yes, it's drug company self-promotion, but this one's actually useful, and it's free.
 

Poker Chick is a firm believer that 10 years from now "Signs of anaphylaxis" posters in restaurants and public places will be as commonplace as "First aid for choking".  We're obviously not there but still, we can't imagine how hard it must have been to raise a FA child 10 years ago.  Things are slowly starting to change.

Where are we again?

Stumbled upon ourselves here: 

Anyone know this site?

Why can't you just eat a friggin' pretzel instead?

Recently, a fellow food allergy mom got the following comment on her blog in response to a discussion of banning peanuts on airplanes:

“I have to say that peanuts or any food should not be banned in any way. These allergy sufferers need to manage their problem. If you can’t manage it, then don’t fly! It certainly won’t stop me from cracking open a bag of nuts on a plane whether they serve it or not.”

This type of comment is all-too-common and it's important for people to know this before we can address this type of ignorance.   After encountering way too many people like this, Poker Chick has two things to say:

1. Most people we've met are thoughtful, concerned and willing to try.  So to the friends, family, neighbors who've gone out of their way to include mini and help her have as normal a childhood as possible - you have no idea how much your kindness means to us.
2. For those of you who don't deal with food allergies on a regular basis:  are people really this stupid, or are they just assholes?

Please visit Kelly's blog, read her most recent post, and pass it on.

And The State Of The Union Is....Awkward

In the buzz leading to tonight's State of the Union address, the focus was less on the substance of the speech and more on seating assignments for the audience.

Beyond the inspiring "Sputnik moment" sound bytes, the most interesting piece of it was watching how it was received. This sounds ridiculous at first.  But think about it.  For days we have been annoyed with this obsession on who's sitting where. For real?  What's the difference? Are you really unable to form your own opinion? Are we such adversaries that despite serving the same country and people we can't even sit together? Are we only able to applaud next to certain people?  And does it even matter? Some of these people are so new they could be sitting next to a seat-filler and not know it.

We thought it was a ridiculous topic of conversation. And truth be told, it is. It should be a given that seating should be party-agnostic and it's high time this was so taken for granted it's no longer a topic of discussion.

But let's indulge our inner gossip-mongers for a minute.

Admit it, you were watching. You tuned out for the middle of the speech when Obama struggled to find concrete examples of how he was going to push his policies forward, and looked at the crowd. And along with the nation's top reporters you noticed the reception this speech got was unusually quiet.

Well, duh.

It doesn't take a genius to realize that when you take people out of their partisan pens the "we're-better-than-you" syndrome is going to be taken down a notch. One only has to take a quick glance at each awkward individual to realize that. Look at the applause: historically loud and supportive; today tentative as people slowly got up, looked to their right, looked to their left, and then (and only then!) stood up and applauded if they noticed fellow party members cheering nearby.

And the awkward continues. 

There were genuine attempts at national unity, evidenced not only by the seating arrangements but also by small gestures: black and white ribbons, pink ties instead of red, more pats on the back, a somber and respectful tone overall. But on the flip side were the people who stuck to party lines, those who refused to sit apart from the party, those who even separated from their own party and made their own rebuttals. Even more awkward: the men sitting behind Obama, not quite sure how to react while he was talking.

"That's my boy!"                                "I'm so bored I could cry"

The President faced a nation in a very serious place, people who are nervous about their jobs, their future, their security, and addressed the fears that we are falling from grace (of course, special thanks to the Republicans who made sure to reignite those fears as they described in detail the "day of reckoning" the US is headed for, but we digress).

So Obama, you get props for rallying the troops and infusing Americans with renewed optimism in our future. But the vibe in the room? Tenuous at best, and, dare we say....awkward. Next year, in addition to mixed seating, let's work on boosting the confidence of our nation's leaders so they are comfortable enough to express their reaction honestly. It's not like they get a copy of the speech in advance or anything. Oh, wait....

Whatever you believe: Republican, Democrat, Tea Party, Roaring Tiger or Anxious Chopper...own it.   'Cause you can.  And that's what he's talkin' about.

And her grade is....

This past Wednesday, as her first decision as chancellor, Cathie Black decided NOT to close NYC public schools due to snow. She consulted with the mayor, the sanitation department, and (we suspect) the mayor's speechwriter's as well. The sound byte was intact. Hail NYC public schools! Hail the fact that they have closed only five times since 1978!!!

Um, excuse me? Is this supposed to be some sort of accomplishment? 9 inches of snow in Manhattan - more in the boroughs - a warning from the city and sanitation department not to travel if not necessary - and school is...open? Not even delayed? So parents have to conduct the usual morning rush in a pedestrian city and walk quickly through icy streets so they can still make it by 8:15? Perhaps she has confused the Board of education with U.S. Postal Service? (neither snow, nor ice, nor heat, nor gloom of night...)

Regardless of the reason, it's left everyone wondering about her judgment. The city got nearly a foot of snow and forced kids to travel on treacherous streets. And this benefits our mini not-yet-voting citizens how, exactly?

We must not have been the only ones thinking this was a mistake. Less than half of students actually showed up. And most of the ones that did were late.

Moreover, guess who else was absent from school that day? Cathie Black herself! Yes, peeps, she elected to spend a whole day on a press conference lauding her no-snow day decision, and postponed a planned trip to a Staten Island school. Of course, we can't really blame her. Have you seen the unplowed streets in that neighborhood?

But before we heckle "Chancellor"* Black off the stage entirely, let's give her another chance. Maybe she got some bad advice on one decision. How's she handling the real issues, like overcrowding? Well, she's got a unique solution, that's for sure.


"Could we just have some birth control for a while? It would really help us all out.”

*We say Chancellor in quotes because, well, technically this title belongs to an education adminstration who actually has a background in...um...education.