{"id":1569,"date":"2014-07-23T11:02:34","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T15:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.allergyhome.org\/blogger\/?p=1569"},"modified":"2016-03-11T22:55:37","modified_gmt":"2016-03-12T03:55:37","slug":"food-allergies-and-a-side-of-humor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allergyhome.org\/blogger\/food-allergies-and-a-side-of-humor\/","title":{"rendered":"Food Allergies and a Side of Humor"},"content":{"rendered":"

AllergyHome proudly presents Sloane Miller (food allergy counselor, author,\u00a0and consultant).\u00a0 Sloane has had an amazing voice in our community and has been a great role model and leader for so many. Thank you Sloane for sharing with us!<\/em><\/p>\n

Humor and food allergies may not seem like a natural pairing but for me, it\u2019s as normal as having blue eyes or brown wavy hair or food allergies.<\/p>\n

The facts of food allergies and anaphylaxis are clear: food allergies are real and serious; have an emergency plan, carry your emergency medications on your person at all times and epinephrine autoinjectors are the first line of defense in a severe, life threatening allergic reaction.<\/p>\n

When I say humor and food allergies can work together, I\u2019m not suggesting it\u2019s \u201cha-ha, let\u2019s not take food allergies seriously\u201d time. This is about how humor can be a valuable lens to look at yourself and others; it can soften your interactions or even help you connect to others and others connect to you in surprising ways.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a recent example. I\u2019ve been taking musical improvisation comedy classes for the last two years – so fun! It\u2019s where we make up an entire twenty-five minute musical based on a suggestion from the audience. Nothing is planned or rehearsed; everything is created on the spot in front of the audience\u2019s eyes – from the songs, melodies, lyrics, to the characters and plots, the d\u00e9nouement and the big finish.<\/p>\n

Recently, an improviser I have seen perform many, many times, Jon Bander<\/a>\u00a0was subbing for our teacher. Impressively agile in creating story lines, funny characters and musical wordplay, I was excited to learn from him that evening.<\/p>\n

During our class break as we were all milling about, Bander smiled at me and extended his hand, saying \u201cHi. I\u2019m Bander. What was your name again?\u201d<\/p>\n

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that he had been snacking on a vending machine bag of nuts and raisins; it looked like cashews. \u00a0That hand, laden with nut dust, was now extending towards me for a greeting.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m certain I have clasped hands with hundreds of people after they\u2019ve eaten nuts without knowing it and without incident. But watching someone eat nuts and then want to shake my hand seemed worth avoiding. How to avoid without offending my teacher, someone whose talent I admired and who it would be lovely to get to know better? Yes, you guessed it. Humor!<\/p>\n

\u201cHi! I\u2019m Sloane I said and I\u2019m severely allergic to nuts so I can\u2019t shake your hand right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, oh!\u201d Bander\u2019s eyes grew wide. \u201cI had no idea. I\u2019m so sorry, I\u2019m SO sorry.\u201d He closed the bag and whisked it to the other corner of the room, placing it gently on a windowsill away from where our class was singing. He returned, not extending his hand and continued to apologize, saying he had no idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course not. We just met. In all likelihood nothing would have happened or I just would have washed my hands after talking with you but I figured better be safe than sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI eat nuts all of the time,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, basically, I won\u2019t ever touch you.\u201d (Big laugh.)<\/p>\n

After class was over, I was outside talking with a classmate when Bander and the accompanist walked out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so worried about you during class thinking, \u2018Did I kill Sloane? Is she alright?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

We laughed again and I thanked him again for his conscientiousness and reassured him that I was totally fine.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m allergic to shellfish,\u201d Bander said.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, the first time I had shrimp when I was 19, I ended up in the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bander continued to tell me about his food allergy experiences and how he takes care of his food allergy needs. I\u2019ve find this every often: when I tell someone about my experience, it gives them a natural opening to talk about theirs \u2013 and more often than not, these days, someone has a food allergy experience to relate. I don\u2019t think Bander would have shared his harrowing story of his first food allergic reaction if I simply refused to shake his hand and walked away or if I had shaken his hand and then rushed to the ladies room to wash my hands without telling him why and having a laugh. Sharing my food allergy needs in a softly humorous way allowed him to share something personal about himself and a new connection was formed.<\/p>\n

Flash forward to this past week. I saw Bander after his brilliant set with his team Aquarius at The Magnet Theater<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He motioned to hug me saying, \u201cI haven\u2019t had any nuts today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, let\u2019s hug it out,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Humor provided an undercurrent of ease and lightness,\u00a0which allowed for a new connection. It may not seem like something as serious as life-threatening food allergies and humor could\/would go together, but being able to laugh at yourself or the situation, having certain lightness or softness of attitude while advocating for your needs, can be another a useful tool for navigating\u00a0the world safely and effectively with food allergies.<\/p>\n

\"Allergic<\/a>

copyright Kenneth Chen<\/p><\/div>\n

Sloane Miller,\u00a0<\/strong>food allergy counselor and author,\u00a0is founder and President of\u00a0Allergic Girl Resources, Inc<\/strong>., a consultancy devoted to food allergy awareness.\u00a0She consults with private clients, the healthcare, food and hospitality industries, government and not-for-profit advocacy organizations. Ms. Miller earned her Master of Social Work at the New York University\u2019s Silver School of Social Work and her Master of Fine Arts in Writing and Literature at Bennington College. In 2006 she started\u00a0Please Don’t Pass the Nuts<\/strong>, an award-winning blog for and about people affected by food allergies. In 2011, John Wiley & Sons published Ms. Miller’s first book,\u00a0Allergic Girl: Adventures in Living Well With Food Allergies<\/strong>, the definitive how-to guide. Ms. Miller combines a lifetime of personal experience and passion with professional expertise to connect with people about how to live safely, effectively, and joyously with food allergies.\u00a0For more information,\u00a0please visit Allergic Girl Resources, Inc.<\/a>\u00a0on the Internet at\u00a0www.allergicgirl.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AllergyHome proudly presents Sloane Miller (food allergy counselor, author,\u00a0and consultant).\u00a0 Sloane has had an amazing voice in our community and has been a great role model and leader for so many. Thank you Sloane for sharing with us! Humor and food allergies may not seem like a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[151,11,21,153,152],"class_list":["post-1569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-allergic-girl","tag-allergyhome","tag-food-allergies","tag-humor","tag-sloane-miller"],"yoast_head":"\nFood Allergies and a Side of Humor - Blog @ AllergyHome.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This guest post from Sloane Miller demonstrates how humor can be useful and effective while safely and effectively navigating food allergies.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.allergyhome.org\/blogger\/food-allergies-and-a-side-of-humor\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"pistiner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/food-allergies-and-a-side-of-humor\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/food-allergies-and-a-side-of-humor\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"pistiner\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6b502a14ccabe0f6da06c1ff6f75e562\"},\"headline\":\"Food Allergies and a Side of Humor\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-23T15:02:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-12T03:55:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/food-allergies-and-a-side-of-humor\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1054,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/food-allergies-and-a-side-of-humor\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/files\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Allergic-Girl-photo-by-Kenneth-Chen-300x199.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Allergic Girl\",\"allergyhome\",\"food allergies\",\"humor\",\"Sloane Miller\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/food-allergies-and-a-side-of-humor\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.allergyhome.org\\\/blogger\\\/food-allergies-and-a-side-of-humor\\\/\",\"name\":\"Food Allergies and a Side of Humor - 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