A server will never say this to your face but we all know your gluten allergy is fake. You are not allergic to gluten. You are just on a gluten-free diet and want attention. There are plenty of people who are truly allergic to gluten, or sensitive, or intolerant, and you are not one of them. We can tell. You’re on nothing more than a high-powered Atkins diet, and while it’s great that you’re feeling healthier, it’s not great that you blame the discrepancy between your previous and current state of health on a fictional allergy. Feel free to adopt a gluten free diet, but don’t throw the word ‘allergy’ around like you have a medical problem.
Especially in a restaurant, the word ‘allergy’ means that the whole restaurant is going to need to do extra work and take special care to keep you safe, healthy, and happy. If your ‘allergy’ is really just a diet with no medical basis, you are being a selfish ass. The world does not revolve around you, the restaurant does not revolve around you, and we all know your allergy is fake.
Your gluten allergy is fake because you discuss it at parties. Your gluten allergy is fake because it ‘comes and goes.’ Your gluten allergy is fake because you will eat at an Italian restaurant but walk away fine because you ordered the gluten free pasta. Your gluten allergy is fake because after reminding your server ten times that you’re highly allergic, you complain to a manager that you were never brought a basket of bread.
If you’re sure your gluten allergy is real because you cut out gluten and suddenly felt better, congratulations, you’re on a diet. However, a change in health doesn’t mean there was an allergy involved. It’s fine to cut television from your life, just like it’s fine to cut gluten from your diet, but it’s very important to know where ‘lifestyle change’ ends and ‘medical condition’ begins.
There’s nothing fun or trendy about having a medical condition that severely limits your diet. While people with real gluten-related conditions exist, they number perhaps one in a hundred people, yet up to one in ten will claim to have the condition to some extent.
People with true gluten allergies or Celiac disease don’t go to an Italian restaurant and order the fettuccine alfredo with gluten free pasta, because those with real allergies can’t take such a risk of cross-contamination. Every knife, every plate, every surface their food comes in contact with will need to be sanitized, and in a gluten-heavy environment, it’s impossible to guarantee such sterilization on a moment’s notice. It would take an hour to make a single burger if that were so, and there would have to be ten dishwashers working around the clock just to keep up.
You’ll never see someone with a severe peanut allergy in a Thai restaurant. It’s not worth the risk. Those with severe peanut allergies take care to personally steer clear of risky situations.
Feel free to order a burger without a bun, or replace the garlic bread with a cup of soup, but remember that if you’re not in a gluten free restaurant, gluten-related requests shouldn’t compromise every ingredient of a dish to the point of being utterly unrecognizable. If you want something that isn’t on the menu, eat somewhere else.
Having an allergy means that you must constantly guard yourself, all day every day, and one slip-up might cause discomfort, severe pain, or hospitalization. In the case of a genuine allergy, most kitchens are willing to work very hard to ensure your safety. Wasting that much time and effort of an entire restaurant’s staff might seem unthinkable, but some customers think nothing of it as they announce their allergy to their server within the first thirty seconds of being seated.
Sorry to say, this is f#$&ing bullshit. Sure, I'm not going to Pagliaccis and ordering their GF pasta, but who the eff are you to judge if someone has an allergy or not? You work in the service industry, and guess what, people with food allergies have to live a normal, social life as well. How many gluten free restaurants do you know of in your town?
Trust me, people who simply choose not to eat wheat can rub me the wrong way sometimes too. Do you have any idea how amazing it would be to go out to eat without fear that I will pay for it for the next week because someone wasn't careful enough not to use the same knife or surface or space on the grill? While I envy people who don't eat gluten as a choice, I am happy they have made that decision. Why? Because their choice has increased awareness insurmountably for those of us who do have a legitimate allergy. When I was first diagnosed, I couldn't eat out period. I said the word "gluten" or "celiac" and was greeted with a stare of ignorance. It was never safe. Now, most places have gluten free-friendly items on the menu and most staff are somewhat aware of the precautions that are required in preparing a "safe" meal.
People with Celiac disease DO discuss it openly and mention it immediately to their servers. WHY? Because if I keep my allergy a secret, how will you know that I have it? Is there some secret Celiac tattoo on my forehead only seen to regular people? Can I come back into the kitchen and prepare my own meal? No? Then get off your high horse and allow me to express my allergy openly to you so that you know its serious.
In conclusion, please, don't assume that you can judge a person's ailments by looking at them or dissecting their conversation matter. If someone tells you they have a peanut allergy, would you EVER take that anything less than seriously? Why risk making someone else sick because you don't want to be inconvenienced by the extra work? No, I won't come to your pasta bar with a gluten allergy, but understand the pressures we, as people with this invisible disease, are under in trying to live a normal life without "being difficult". We aren't trying to make your life harder. In fact, we are normally quite embarrassed about our issues and we truly feel bad that we have to make things harder, so cut us some slack and please, be careful with our food.
Finally, where does this girl work? I would like to never go there.
