Planes, Trains, and...Peanuts

I was talking with another mom, (we'll call her Betty), recently about riding in airplanes with her six-year-old son who has a nut allergy.

There are such things called "buffer-zones" now, in which the airline stewardesses ask people not to eat or buy nuts during a flight in which there is an allergic child. Betty said they went on three flights this summer. On the first flight the stewardess asked the first few rows around them to stay nut-free. On a second flight the attendant asked only the left side of the plane to refrain from eating nuts. And on the third flight Betty's family was refused any such treatment. Confused? So was she. "And," she said, "they obviously don't clean very well in between flights as there was a peanut right under his chair." Yikes.

So here I am, on a bus to the states with 51 other people, in seat 13. A few people in front of me; a lot behind. Mr. Man was seat 14, the aisle seat, stretching out his legs. We are excited, a little tired from the early start, and quite comfortable. The tour guide is going over her list of the beginning of the itinerary, and nobody is really listening. But just then, she mentions the duty-free shop. "It's great for snacks like chocolate, liquor, and bags of nuts."

Most people would go for the liquor, I figured, but the bus suddenly seemed smaller with the idea of nuts floating around. Sure enough, when the bus stopped, all of the above were bought and brought onto the bus.

Mr. and I, we bought hand antiseptic.

As the elderly and naive shovelled handfuls of mixed nuts into their mouths, waved at their friends, and touched all the seats as they moved up the aisle, I leaned closer and closer to my precious window seat, soaked myself in antiseptic until I stunk, and waited to get off. I figured, "let them get it out of their system, eat them all and I'll wash my hands with this stuff every time I move." Honestly, I don't think that "stuff" even works, but I held onto it like life raft.

I was asked later why I didn't tell them I was allergic, but actually we had. It was on our application for the trip, but there is nothing that could be done. For children, there are "buffer zones" and peanut-free snack rules, but adults are adults. We are old enough to take care of ourselves. People don't think an adult would have an allergy, it's just in the kids. Besides, the bags were opened; the harm had been done. I would just sit still and wait. There would no shaking of hands on this trip.

Eventually, they closed up the bags, and I subtly walked off the bus with both my arms straight up in the air.

We had a fabulous trip; safe; eventful; lots of fun! Three days later we get back on the bus with the same 50 people, and cross the border into Canada.

Two hours from home I hear the rustling of bags, smell the nutty aroma and start to cry.

As an aside: One fellow passenger who we got to know pointed out that eventually all of these allergic children will grow up and enter the work force. It will be interesting to see if their adult life will be safer than mine or just the same. Once you're an adult, are you on your own, like me, or will there be "buffer zones" then, too?