"Picky Eater"

Picky Eater
“I am allergic to milk,
Not lactose intolerant,
And if I have a reaction,
I can die”
Harsh, but true

“Wait, you can’t have pizza?”…
“Wait, you can’t have ice cream?”…
“Wait, you can’t have cheese?”…
…“That must be terrible.”
No, it’s not terrible
“Oh, it must because you’ve never had it,
You don’t know what you’re missing”
I’m not sure you get it

I suppose a reaction could kill me
But it’s not likely
I’m pretty careful
I’d never try so much as a spoonful of ice cream
That could be dangerous
But I do have reactions
It’s the caramel coloring or the hydrolyzed casein or the
Non-fat dry milk
That can take you by surprise
It transforms me
Asthma
Eyelid to fingertip covered in poison ivy
It happens several times a year
It lasts for a few hours
I deal with the symptoms
It’s not pleasant, but it’s not the part that bothers me.

What does it mean to have an allergy?
Or even to be vegetarian? Vegan? Kosher?
It means that every dish costs a question too
Some cost several
Each dish is a struggle
Each costs time - yours and the waiter’s and the chef’s and the manager’s
Each costs worry – yours as well as the worry of the friend that invited you over for dinner
Each singles you out
Each costs questions like –
“What’s in this soup?”
“How is that meat prepared?”
“Did this touch something unfriendly?”
That’s the word I use – “Is this a friendly dish?”
Ah, no, that’s not friendly
Some restaurants are not friendly
French restaurants are definitely not friendly
Greek is also dangerous
Chinese on the other hand is one of the friendliest

It’s a restriction, a handicap
One that is invisible most of the time
One that you wish was invisible all the time
One that you can keep invisible,
All it takes is avoiding new things, that’s all
Well, maybe not all
Because familiar things change too
A cereal that was safe last week decided to make a change
One bad night and it goes on the unfriendly list

You know what really gets me though?
Sharing
You get to a point where it’s just not worth it to ask the questions
Especially when you have to ask it for everyone else’s dish too
Why not just eat the meal silently
Default food
It’s the plain chicken breast, cooked on tin foil so it won’t touch the grill
It’s the hamburger without a bun that you have to eat with a fork and a knife
Having an allergy means that breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert, you stand out unless you eat alone

You know what else it means?
It means you appreciate the food you get.
It means you appreciate the moments you get.
When a person makes something for you, it is the sweetest food in the world
When someone buys a dessert that you can actually eat, it brightens your day
And it means that some of the best days of your life are days when you get to share.