Disturbing Experience.

Today I had an unusual experience, and I felt that it was something that needed to be shared with all of you.

I was in my gym after school waiting for my coach to arrive, as were a bunch of other students. A boy came up to a girl near me and asked for a sip of her water. The girl said no. So the boy comes up to my friend behind me and says I can’t believe she didn’t let me have just a sip of her water. So my friend picks up a random water by someone’s abandoned backpack and says here. He asks her if its hers and she says no, but that it doesn’t matter. I proceed to watch him take a gulp of this water bottle and then put it back down on the ground as if nothing had happened while my friend walks away. I turned to him in rage. I told him “You know if that person has food allergies and you ate something they’re allergic to, they can get really sick!” He calmly told me that he didn’t have any nuts that day so they would be fine. I said NO. I told him “There are other food allergies out there besides nuts! I’m allergic to milk, beef and egg and someone could get really sick  by drinking something that has been contaminated with any trace of their food allergen!” He just looked at me dumbly and said “You’re allergic to steak?” I couldn’t handle it any longer. I stomped away in rage knowing that the owner of that water bottle did not in fact have any food allergies, but stupefied that this person could not comprehend that someone could DIE if they came in contact with the allergen.

This whole situation frustrated and scared me at the same time. A person doesn’t fully understand what a food allergy is unless they have it themselves, and that ISN’T RIGHT! People need to be aware of how dangerous food allergies are and realize its not that they can’t eat a food, but if they do they become sick! I hope there are more people out there that aren’t dealing with this problem or have never had to. I hope someday my whole school can really understand what food allergies are all about, and that schools across the globe learn the same.

-Alli