Sometimes People Say Such Stupid Things The Only Way To Handle It Is To Laugh!

[motheroftwins2010]

My future step-niece in-law is gluten free due to an intolerance allegedly. She's not someone I would want to be friends with if it weren't for me marrying her step-fathers brother but she's family. Anyhow since I have celiac and my son is ncgs we brought our own food to Easter lunch. My fiancee went over to her to offer her some gluten free brownies since his family is not gluten free and don't really understand what it is. Anyhow FI told her we had brownies that were gluten free from non-wheat flour or something along those lines and her response was "Oh I can eat wheat just not gluten". After he came back  (I didn't know why he went over to her at this point) I walked over to offer her our desert and she was eating a grocery store bought cake and looking at the lid and told her mom that she didn't even think the cake had wheat in it. It's a yellow cake from the grocery store bakery what does she think flour is? At that point I turned around without saying anything. When FI told me what she said it felt like a palm to face moment. I really don't know what she thinks gluten is and I think she must have the must brain dead doctor if he really told her to go gluten free but wheat was a ok. She said the doctor suggested it and then tested her celiac panel after going on her version of gluten free...

Also my future sister in law told me gluten free instant mashed potatoes where the worst mashed potatoes she had ever had. I told her I usually just made mine own and she asked how I was able to get the gluten out of potatoes. For someone who has no clue I cut her some slack but really it's in the news all the time even I knew fresh fruits and veggies were gluten free before I even understood what celiac disease was!

 

What kind of mind numbingly hilarious Easter conversations did you have?!

[BlessedMommy]

Oh my goodness, that's too funny! What in the world do people think that gluten is, anyway?

[motheroftwins2010]

Oh my goodness, that's too funny! What in the world do people think that gluten is, anyway?

I'm so tempted to ask her what she thinks it is but I'm pretty sure it's just a b*tchy thing to do at this point.

[kareng]

I have seen many stories on here of people being told " its white flour, it isn't made with wheat. It's made with rice". I told my then, about 14 yr old son, that this person said I could eat white bread because it's made from rice flour not wheat. He said, " That's great!........wait.....What? Regular White bread is made with rice flour? really? I don't think so." Thus proving that even a 14 yr old male has more common sense than some of these people!

And someone I know is always asking me to explain What I can't eat. Then, a short time later, I get questions like " Can you eat potatoes?" " do you eat rice all the time?" This is a mom of 3 who does cook. She is highly educated. I never say I can't eat gluten - I say wheat first. Then I might add "gluten free."

[NoGlutenCooties]

I actually had a check-out girl at the grocery store need me to identify a cucumber for her so that she could figure out how to ring it up.  People can be ignorant about a lot of things, and unfortunately food is high on the list of common ignorances.  So we really shouldn't be all that surprised that people do not have a clue about a particular protein.  I had an odd conversation with a woman at the grocery store who just couldn't understand how she could be sensitive to eggs but not chicken... after all, it's the "exact same food".  I told her that people who can't tolerate dairy can still eat beef...  "That's totally different!  It isn't even the same animal!"    Really?  So is it the cow's milk or the beef that doesn't come from bovine?

 

Ignorance is everywhere.  The best we can do is try to educate the ones who are willing to try to be educated and try not to get killed by the rest of them.

[BlessedMommy]

It's like when I told someone that I was dairy free and she said, "But I thought that you still ate egg products."

 

Um yes, because eggs don't come from cows and aren't considered dairy. 

[NoGlutenCooties]

Literally laughed out loud at the mental picture of a cow laying an egg...

[skelly247]

I feel your pain...A friend brought peanut butter cookies to a party and told me that I could have them because they were peanut butter cookies, not wheat cookies.  Same friend told me I could go with her to get lunch at a buffet because they had cake and cake isn't made with gluten.  First off, false, second, what kind of lunch is just cake?  She kept insisting that I come and told me I could just take a little of each food so that I didn't get sick.  I gave her the nature valley granola bars that I bought that made me sick so she knows that just a little bit can hurt but none-the-less....

[BlessedMommy]

Ugh! It's a gluten free diet, not a low gluten diet!

 

I wonder where people get the idea that "a little bit won't hurt?"

[cyclinglady]

It's like when I told someone that I was dairy free and she said, "But I thought that you still ate egg products."

 

Um yes, because eggs don't come from cows and aren't considered dairy. 

Ah, the persistent pyramid food group chart that lumped eggs with dairy products.......google the image and you will see!

[motheroftwins2010]

I had a waitress insist that the sauce in the lettuce cups had dairy in it. I knew it was dairy free and gluten free because one of the 4 times I've eaten out since being diagnosed was at this restaurant and discussed this with the manager and chef that it was gluten-free not contaminated and dairy free so I was confused as to why she insisted if had dairy. I asked her what dairy was in it and she said honey. I was like you mean the stuff from bees? Yup that's what she meant she insisted that honey was a type of cheese... Needless to say I ordered a piece of plain broiled salmon that was cooked on foil and nothing else to prevent cc and stupidity.

 

I think she got confused because vegans don't eat honey maybe? But the cheese thing?!

[NoGlutenCooties]

Ugh! It's a gluten free diet, not a low gluten diet!

 

I wonder where people get the idea that "a little bit won't hurt?"

 

Because that's what people tell themselves about everything else all the time.

Smoking a little bit won't hurt...

Driving a little above the speed limit won't hurt...

One piece of cake won't hurt (says the diabetic)...

 

How often do we rationalize by telling ourselves, I know I shouldn't but... just a little... or just this once... or you gotta live sometime...

It's human nature.

And people never want to be the only ones bending the rules, so they encourage conformity and criticize the ones who do actually try to follow the rules.

 

Annoying as hell.  But human nature.

[CathyO]

I get frustrated by people who argue with me over my disease and my health needs.

My step-son is like that.  He'll come back with "But don't you think ...." with some ridiculousness attached to it.

 

No. I don't think.  I told you what I think and what I need.

 

When faced with the "well, a little bit shouldn't hurt you", I respond with "Would you offer a cigarette to someone with lung cancer and tell them a little bit won't hurt?  Or would you offer a cup of sugar to a diabetic and tell them a little bit won't hurt?  Would you offer a peanut to a child with a peanut allergy and tell them that just one won't hurt?"
Eating gluten can be just as deadly to me.
Some people get it.
Some people get angry at me.
It has certainly sorted out who is a real friend and who isn't.

 

With my step-son, I finally had to tell him that my doctor and nutritional consultant have told me what I need to do. Since I'm paying them a lot of money to take care of my health, I prefer to follow their instructions based on their education and knowledge.  That's worked for me so far, and I'm going to keep doing it that way.  If he had a problem with it, I was sorry but I prefer to remain healthy and not in an ambulance or a hospital.

 

[Gemini]

I'm liking you more and more, Cathy O!  You got spunk! 

[CathyO]

I'm liking you more and more, Cathy O!  You got spunk! 

 

Aw, thanks, Gemini.  At my age, I figure I may as well tell it like it is. I don't have time to waste. 

[BlessedMommy]

Go Cathy! You know, if people are being that ridiculous, they need a blunt response. 

[Gemini]

Aw, thanks, Gemini.  At my age, I figure I may as well tell it like it is. I don't have time to waste. 

Ha!  I found that after menopause, I really didn't give a poop about what other people thought about my diet or what I had to do to stay healthy.  There is a certain sense of

self assuredness that comes with age and I'm kind of enjoying it myself. 

[HavaneseMom]

I asked her what dairy was in it and she said honey. I was like you mean the stuff from bees? Yup that's what she meant she insisted that honey was a type of cheese... Needless to say I ordered a piece of plain broiled salmon that was cooked on foil and nothing else to prevent cc and stupidity.

 

I think she got confused because vegans don't eat honey maybe? But the cheese thing?!

This had me rolling! I don't know how you could keep it together when that waitress told you honey was a type of cheese. Hilarious!

[GluFree4Me]

These are hilariously absurd...and scary at the same time.  I guess they say that ignorance is bliss...and that laughter is the best medicine. Hey, it looks like we all win! 

[motheroftwins2010]

I am not sure how I didn't start cracking up right there but yeah scary how little people know about the things they are putting into their bodies. I am really getting good at not laughing in people's faces now a days!

[Georgia-guy]

This had me rolling! I don't know how you could keep it together when that waitress told you honey was a type of cheese. Hilarious!

Speaking of eating out (which I will definitely is once my gluten spree is over and testing is done...but I'm ready for testing to be done so I can actually feel somewhat normal), I spent almost 7 years in restaurant management, and I have a good friend who is a nutritionist. Between those two things, I learned quite a bit about many different dietary restrictions (to include celiac). Well, one night this lady comes into the restaurant I was working at. Doesn't ask for an allergen menu (my cue to walk over and ask about her allergies and special needs to ensure they get met), doesn't even say that she has any special dietary needs. What does she order? A burger with fried onion petals on it. Food comes out, and she complains she can't have the bun (but apparently the fried onion petals in a bread crumb batter are fine) because she has celiac. I went out and spoke to her, tried to explain that not only could she not have the bun, she couldn't have the onion petals either. She didn't like that much, and went on to explain she had celiac her whole life (if I'm not mistaken, that's the case all the time) and she knew what she could and couldn't have. Needless to say, she ended up getting glutened that night. It's not just the non-celiacs who are clueless, there are some celiacs who are as well...which is very sad considering how important maintaining a GFD is.

[w8in4dave]

Yea I was on FB one day and my daughters friend who has been Celiac for years, posted she was having a Miller Light. I said: um I don't think thats on your list of stuff to drink. She said yea I know, but I'm only having a couple. I just didn't know what eles to say, so I said nothing. But gave her a sad face ... She knows better! 

[Wi11ow]

I told my best friend via email that I was just diagnosed intolerant to gluten, soy, dairy and eggs.

 

She was very sympathetic and said she had a friend going through the same thing with herself and 3 kids. "She noticed a super change in them a week into the new diet.. So hopefully you have same response..Sugar is in everything, that is how they are able to sell so much of the "yummy" food..."

 

um....sugar???

LOL I just said thanks, I'm getting it figured out. All you can do is appreciate the concern and shake your head!!