Clearly, I Need Therapy

[miles2go]

Everyone means well and when your god-daughter who's vegetarian is in front of you in line at the food fare and you ask if the food is wheat-free and they reply that it's vegan, there's not a whole lot of education going on. Likes or dislikes about Rachel Ray or David Letterman aside, I'm just glad that they're giving some air-time to the issue. It's not a choice! And geez, 6-8 weeks to recover from this? Arrgh!

/sorry, rant over/

[CarlaB]

Everyone means well and when your god-daughter who's vegetarian is in front of you in line at the food fare and you ask if the food is wheat-free and they reply that it's vegan, there's not a whole lot of education going on. Likes or dislikes about Rachel Ray or David Letterman aside, I'm just glad that they're giving some air-time to the issue. It's not a choice! And geez, 6-8 weeks to recover from this? Arrgh!

/sorry, rant over/

Yea, seems like people hear "meat" no matter how clearly you say "wheat"!!! I loved explaining it once to a kitchen staff at a conference I was running. I said, not meat, wheat. They understood, then said, "How about a vegetarian pizza?" Yikes. I said, that has wheat. They couldn't believe pizza had wheat.

[miles2go]

Yea, seems like people hear "meat" no matter how clearly you say "wheat"!!! I loved explaining it once to a kitchen staff at a conference I was running. I said, not meat, wheat. They understood, then said, "How about a vegetarian pizza?" Yikes. I said, that has wheat. They couldn't believe pizza had wheat.

Oh, heh, I didn't even think of the rhyming aspect of it, I just thought they were still stuck on the idea of my veggie gd being just in front of me. I had an earlier experience with a server in a restaurant who was surprised that bread had wheat in it and I have had some luck by saying flour before I mention wheat, so maybe that's a somewhat circuitous route to go?

Tomorrow I'm heading to our state's organic agricultural fair, which is wonderful! but really pretty gluten-unfriendly. Crunchy granoladom obviously involves a lot of whole wheat to some interpretations. I'm packing my own food though and my non-celiac disease-wheat allergic friend is doing the same, so at least I won't feel like too much of an outsider. Have you tried saying flour or something else instead of wheat, Carla? Just wondering if you'd found a method that kind of works...although I do like the Yikes, that has wheat approach, too. It's just that whole I'm-a-picky-eater-now thing that I have trouble with, I guess, because before I would eat anything and everything. So maybe I don't need therapy after all and just need to realize that the world isn't going to change in a day, but I can. I really do like that Yikes.

[CarlaB]

No, I haven't really found a good way. It's actually to the point now that I won't eat somewhere unless they have a gluten-free menu. There is just too much risk of contamination and I've just gotten sick one too many times in places that aren't set up for it. Otherwise, I say celiac disease. That way they know it's serious -- "disease" -- they know it's not just some food fad. I don't like just saying flour because then they don't realize the extent of it. Of course, it depends on the situation ... if it's something that I know basically how it's made, I might just ask if they used flour.

Reading over my post I see that it looks like I said, "Yikes", but I didn't say that out loud!!

Have fun at your aggie fair!

[imsohungry]

They understood, then said, "How about a vegetarian pizza?" Yikes. I said, that has wheat. They couldn't believe pizza had wheat.

I've dealt with that too. I carefully explained to my neighbor about my diagnosis. She called over and invited us to dinner one night and stated, "I was so careful Julie, I kept the bread away from the rest of the food." I was so impressed...until I looked at dinner...she made lasagna. Oh well, at least she made the effort. I couldn't help but giggle to myself. She was so proud of herself. I only ate the salad. A few days later; I reviewed "the rules" again with her. I know people won't understand immediately, but it means a lot to me when they really make an effort.

[Mahee34]

After many efforts in educating the restaurant world and while some experiences at places are very good...I have discontinued eating out...I just get so tired of everyone making a big deal out of what I eat or when I don't eat that I've just removed myself from that situation entirely. At a press conference recently, Chick-Fil-A sponsors it, I trust them but instead of the boxes they give I get salad....and someone every week says WHY DO YOU GET A SALAD...and I say, lets' just say, short story, I can't eat wheat...of course they think I say meat and say "SO WHY ARE YOU EATING CHICKEN" ...oh gluten people...I may wear my wheat sucks shirt every wednesday so there is no longer a question!

[Matilda]

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