Yesterday was not my best planned day. I went on a long run, then rushed to go meet a friend outside the city. I grabbed a pear, an orange, my water bottle, and headed out the door. Clearly, this food was not going to be enough to sustain me for the day. This is why it is crucial to plan ahead with food allergies. If I had thought through my day, I probably would have brought more food with me.
My friend wanted to meet at a bakery cafe. I didn’t mind, but I knew I wouldn’t take the risk of eating or drinking anything there. I got my usual iced tea at Starbucks afterwards.
An hour later, I had to leave to drive into the city to meet other friends to see a show. All day, the only food I had a chance to eat was the pear. I realized oranges are not the most “travel friendly” fruit! I contained my hunger throughout the entire show. After, my friends and I went to get a slice of pizza. The pizza place we went to was one I had been to once before, but not since the fall.
I walked up to the counter and asked the man working there if he knew what oil they used in their pizza. I could tell English was not his first language, and he was struggling to understand what I meant. I then tried to explain, but was definitely stuck with a communication barrier. I tried asking the other men behind the counter, but they had the same problem. They said it had “regular oil” in it. Now what does “regular oil” mean? I was guessing it probably was fine, but without knowing, it is never worth the risk. I didn’t order. Everyone else sat down with slices of pizza. I will gladly admit that I was extremely jealous. They would have been happy to go somewhere else, but there were only sit-down restaurants in the vicinity, and we had already done a lot of walking. I didn’t want to make them wait. So I sat there and put on a happy face. What else could I do? It was no ones fault. I just knew it wasn’t worth taking the risk. Ingredients in food can change so often, and I never take a risk like that. If I don’t know, I don’t eat it. End of story. It’s frustrating, but it’s real. That is just the way it goes.
An hour later, I was back at my car with a package of crackers to snack on until I could cook something at home.