Frustration

I have to say that dealing with these food allergies sure have the highs and lows and today I think I dealt with both. Yes we went out for dinner which I know can be difficult but we went to a restaurant where I trust most of the staff. It is also the a location where I had problems a couple of weeks ago with one of the servers.

It is nice being able to come into a restaurant and know that people understand my allergies and also are able to treat me like a normal guest. My experience started with having a server that totally understands my allergies and cares about people as well as seeing a manager that I really like and who also understands my allergies.

The low part of the dinner was seeing the server that I had a problem with a couple of weeks ago. He came over to the table and his comment was “oh you came back”, my husband said yes but we are out here (not his section) and will not have him as a server for a while. We explained what his comments resulted in, but he truly doesn't understand the fears of living with an allergy. I know it's hard for people to totally understand but at least people should respect that I have a fear and not make light of it. We explained that I hadn't eaten for two days after his comments and he never apologized for his words and he just said “Sorry it happened”. I don't think he understands what comments like that can do to someone.

I am so glad that I have people at restaurants that I can trust and who understand otherwise, I don't know what I would do. I am a co-owner of a business and it means that I do have to meet clients at restaurants, so if I could not deal with my fears I wouldn't be able to eat out or in come cases conduct my business.

Thanks Heather and Zo for being who you are.

Side note:
I wish people could see the real side of me and then they would see the emotional impact that I deal with. After writing most of this post at a place where I feel pretty safe except for that one server I get home and fall apart. People don't realize in a lot of cases that I have a strong front that everyone sees but a very emotional side that only my husband sees. I think for the server that has the problem he may only learn if he loses a customer in front of him but I am not sure even if that will help him, but it won't be me(it is too late).

I have to admit that it is extremely hard writing a blog when I am hurt like I currently am, and wish that I could yell and scream but I know that professionaly I can't. Maybe one day I will be able to say that I not longer have problems with dealing with my allergies, but right now that is a ways away so please support me through this and hopefully we will all get through it.

Time for me to hide and do my own screaming and yelling privately.

Thanks to my friends who stand by me, please know that I really appreciate your support.

Roller Coaster of emotions

Having food allergies sure means you go through some really good days and some really bad days. A couple of weeks ago I went through a couple of those really bad days. I know that I have to live with my allergy but having someone tell me to just get over my fear and forget it really upset me.

Eating out is a challenge for anyone with a food allergy but normally when you get to know a server/manager or kitchen staff in a restaurant it really does help. I have to say normally it does but sometimes when a server is having a bad time you can end up as the victim. I was in just that situation with someone that I thought I could trust. I was concerned with my dinner order and questions it only to be told to get over my fear and deal with it as there wasn't a problem with my food. How do I know this when it didn't come out the way I ordered it and that was what I was trying to inform the server.

The result of this situation meant that I really didn't want to eat any food for a couple of days as I was afraid of everything. I didn't even want to get food at home that I knew was safe. The end result of this was after talking to another restaurant manager and server I was able to deal with my fear correctly as I found out that what the problem server said to me was incorrect. I do owe a big thanks for the two of them for helping me deal with my fear and get back to living life like I should. Yes warning people of my allergies and knowing that I can trust most of them.

Now to sit and enjoy a glass of wine tonight while I work on some documentation that I want to do on dealing with allergies and restaurants.