Almost kicked off FLIGHT! Please help

[Nicoleclaw]

Nobody seems to want to answer this but do you carry EPI-Pens?

What do you mean no one wants to answer it? I will gladly answer it. Yes. I would believe anyone who has a child with a food allergy and a good doctor would have one and benadryl on hand at all times (not that benadryl will stop an anaphylactic reaction). However, 2 or even 3 doses of the epi are sometimes needed before you reach a hospital, especially if you are airborne. Reactions can be worsened by other medical conditions such as asthma. It is not a cure-all. You still need immediate medical attention.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I am surprised at the turn this thread has taken. The OP obviously felt comfortable with what Delta promised to do. When they did not perform as promised, she simply asked them to correct it. I do not think that was unreasonable. Who knows why she flew Delta? That does not matter. What matters is the airline did not honor the promise they made her and when she made the reasonable request that they do so they treated her in a way nobody should be treated. Admittedly I do not fly, but I can't understand how people are putting the onus of the plane being on time on her. The onus is on the airline who would not be inconvenienced if they had performed as they promised.

I can't believe the attitudes of some people. Yeah, I love peanuts and peanut butter, but if I were on an airline that asked me not to eat peanuts because somebody on board was allergic, I wouldn't. That's just common courtesy. I'm kind of surprised that people will only pack peanut items when they know this is a possibility and leave themselves no other options. It's sad that people value their own convenience over another person's life.

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

What do you mean no one wants to answer it? I will gladly answer it. Yes. I would believe anyone who has a child with a food allergy and a good doctor would have one and benadryl on hand at all times (not that benadryl will stop an anaphylactic reaction). However, 2 or even 3 doses of the epi are sometimes needed before you reach a hospital, especially if you are airborne. Reactions can be worsened by other medical conditions such as asthma. It is not a cure-all. You still need immediate medical attention.

I'm well aware, I carry 2 everywhere.

It seems to me several parents what certain things done for their child, I get that.....I would just like to know what the parents do, especially in a situations such as a airplanes.

 

[FireDancer]

It's sad that people value their own convenience over another person's life.

It isn't convenience but the right to choose what you consume and where you consume it.

Would it make any difference to you if it were not a stranger and a girlfriend, sibling, child, or friend of yours?

It seems with your cut and dry A,B,C,D situation that you have taken all possible personalization or emotion out of it.

As a rule there should be no emotion involved, only logic. As a personal choice you can apply any emotion you would like. I would choose not to eat my snack if I was with someone because I made the choice to be there. I would not, however, force any of the other passengers to make their choice dependent on me or who I was with. Once I become the 2% I would accommodate the 98% just as when I am the 98% I would expect the 2% to accommodate me.

In many situations I am the 2%. I don't eat fast food but when I was on a road trip with 10 other people and they wanted McDonalds that is where we stopped. I knew it was the case and I brought my own food with me. I sat there in McDondalds with my MRP shake and a cliff bar. I didn't expect the 10 other people to change their eating habits because I was different. I accommodated the majority while making a reasonable alternative for myself.

My issue all along has not been whether airlines should serve peanuts or what any person's choice should be. My issues has always been that everyone should be able to make the choice for themselves. If my choice or your choice is to not eat the snack we brought with us that contains nuts than that is our choice and ours only.

I don't care if airlines serve anything, peanuts or not. I don't want to be told that what I brought for me or my child can't be consumed. I may choose to consume it or not, but that choice is mine and mine alone as your choice is yours and yours along. I don't want restrictions imposed on me on a plane, in a school, at a camp, at a ballgame, or anywhere else that allows me to bring in food.

In short (I know, too late) I am not concerned with what you choose but in your right to choose.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Sorry if I misunderstood your statement of:

"It should be pointed out that..." is an observation. I don't believe I've ever indicated that I don't want to change things for people in need, or that I would eat peanuts anyway when asked not to. I'm actually confused.

And the fact that we have used funds to allow handicapped access as being finite, I guess I don't understand the point?

Response to

How come we can "give up" money ... for these people,

The money "given up" was so treated once for each public building that was not already designed to be handicap-accessible. Peanut bans are ongoing and affect, or are expected to affect by the PA person, everyone with whom they come in contact or may come in contact - even tangentially - through a lifetime.

This expectation often involves ongoing costs. In the case of a peanut-free flight, other passengers may well be forced to spend unexpectedly, to replace food they brought from home and intended to consume aboard.

My city has, I think, seven elementary schools, two of which are peanut-free. Additional ongoing costs include transporting PA students to/from these schools up to 180 times each year. Every year.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I had a mom pitch a fit when my 15 year old was in kindergarten. The teacher politely asked parents to refrain from sending in snacks with peanut butter. This was a 1/2 day program, so the kids brought in a snack and drink each day. She kept saying "my son eats a peanut buttter sandwich every day for snack". She was so upset that the poor child might starve if he didn't get it.

No, of course the other child won't starve if he can't eat his peanut butter sandwich. If that's the only thing the child eats, how do you explain to that child that he can't have any snack while the other children eat, that he can sit and watch his classmates?

 

[LaraK]

No, of course the other child won't starve if he can't eat his peanut butter sandwich. If that's the only thing the child eats, how do you explain to that child that he can't have any snack while the other children eat, that he can sit and watch his classmates?

The same way I explain to my son that he can't have the chocolate cake your kid brought in for his birthday...life sucks sometimes.

Your chocolate cake will not kill my kid, so I will not stop (or even try to stop) it from coming in....but it my son will sit and watch all the other kids eat it.

While I don't have to deal with airborne reactions, they can be deadly.

Here's a correlation...if my son really really likes to play with a real gun...shouldn't he be allowed to bring it loaded to school for show and tell? Guns are legal after all.

 

[Nicoleclaw]

I'm well aware, I carry 2 everywhere.

It seems to me several parents what certain things done for their child, I get that.....I would just like to know what the parents do, especially in a situations such as a airplanes.

I wasn't sure where you were coming from or why you were asking, so I provided some extra info! lol

 

[Nicoleclaw]

I would choose not to eat my snack if I was with someone because I made the choice to be there. I would not, however, force any of the other passengers to make their choice dependent on me or who I was with.

So you are in the car with your friend who is allergic and they say, hey can you put that away, and you have no problem with it and do as asked since you knew you were getting in a car with someone with allergies.

You get on a plane, unaware that someone has allergies and are asked to put something away for a safety reason and you plan to refuse? Just want to make sure I am understanding you correctly from your numerous statements that you will still eat peanuts with the allergic person present.

I guess some of us are willing to make concessions for other's safety even if that means someone is taking away our "right to choose". And some of us are not willing.

 

[GoldieSaysMeep]

No one is in hysterics but you. I'm quite calm about allergies and my son flies with no problem, has lunch at the same table with kids who eat peanut butter and what not. No one here is making demands or saying that but you seem to want to make it seem that way.

Your personal agenda against peanut allergy is very obvious. It is also clear that you rate different special needs by your own personal view of importance. Loud and clear but illogical and not convincing.

Um... okay, whatever. I can't possibly be the only person laughing at the irony of what I highlighted.

I dunno, I think people who are hysterical tend to be the ones who assume other people have "personal agendas" against them. hahaha

I'm done with this thread and I will leave by saying, yes if you were sitting next to me, and asked me to stop eating whatever I was eating, I would ask you to move your seat. I don't take kindly to being told what to do by strangers. I guess I'm just a big old meanie.

 

[Nicoleclaw]

Um... okay, whatever. I can't possibly be the only person laughing at the irony of what I highlighted.

I dunno, I think people who are hysterical tend to be the ones who assume other people have "personal agendas" against them. hahaha

I'm done with this thread and I will leave by saying, yes if you were sitting next to me, and asked me to stop eating whatever I was eating, I would ask you to move your seat. I don't take kindly to being told what to do by strangers. I guess I'm just a big old meanie.

You did not highlight anything.

So you are on a plane, they ask you to refrain from eating peanut products. You whip out your reese's anyway, and happen to be sitting next to the allergic person. You want them to find another seat where? I have never been on a plane with an empty seat.

We can tell you do not take kindly to being told what to do.

How can you expect a person with an allergy or with a child with an allergy to not take your views personally when you may be putting their life at risk and you do not care?

The whole 98% vs. 2% thing. Let's try to think about it this way. It really doesn't hold up because 98% of the people probably WILL NOT HAVE BROUGHT A PEANUT PRODUCT ON THE PLANE. The only people having to conform are the FEW that actually brought something with peanuts.

 

[edk35]

Nobody seems to want to answer this but do you carry EPI-Pens?

YES 3 are in my purse at all times. My daughter who is 18 has one in her purse too. However just because we have epi pens doesn't mean we want to TEMP FATE.

 

[jrmasm]

I am not personally affected by peanut allergies. I sympathize with those are that are affected. I can imagine that a PA is a difficult and scary thing to deal with. That said, I do not think the frustration expressed towards other passengers on this thread is fair. Peanut products are allowed on airlines. Until that changes I believe your frustration would be more productively directed at getting the airlines to change their policies.

 

[TLHB70]

I've personally never been on a plane with a cat. I usually check the flight beforehand when I book. I usually fly SWA and I think they don't allow them anyway.

The closest answer/example I have is I am dating a person who lives in a house with 3 cats. In the year we have been together, I have never been able to stay in his house for more than 10-15 minutes before I stop being able to breathe. We make it work, he always comes to my house. The cats aren't his, thankfully. So for me, avoidance/prevention is key. Keeping my epipen & benadryl on me at all times is my second course of action and making sure wherever I am, if there is a cat present, that I will be able to get up and move away if need be, preferably outside.

If I wound up on a flight where there was a cat, I'd talk to the airline about why that happened after my noting my allergy. Then I'd book another flight. It certainly would not be worth the risk for me to fly with a cat.

I have never notified the airline of my allergy because it is not deadly. I just get miserable. I understand your need to notify them since it is different in your case. I have to say that if the person with the animal came to the seat next to me I would have to ask to switch seats with someone. I could not make it through a flight in that case.
Thanks for answering my question.

 

[Nicoleclaw]

I am not personally affected by peanut allergies. I sympathize with those are that are affected. I can imagine that a PA is a difficult and scary thing to deal with. That said, I do not think the frustration expressed towards other passengers on this thread is fair. Peanut products are allowed on airlines. Until that changes I believe your frustration would be more productively directed at getting the airlines to change their policies.

You may be correct, complaining on the DIS isn't going to change policy, and probably not going to change anyone's opinions either. But you have to admit, someone outright saying that even if the passengers are asked not to eat nut product for the safety of a passenger, they still will do so because it is their right, is a bit maddening, no?

 

[FireDancer]

You get on a plane, unaware that someone has allergies and are asked to put something away for a safety reason and you plan to refuse? Just want to make sure I am understanding you correctly from your numerous statements that you will still eat peanuts with the allergic person present.

Yes, I will move seats but I am eating what I brought, full stop.

I guess some of us are willing to make concessions for other's safety even if that means someone is taking away our "right to choose". And some of us are not willing.

I won't give up my right to choose but won't force anyone else to.

 

[amid chaos]

It's a shame that this thread has turned into a discussion about someones right to choose being more important than the health of a child...any child.

No, I do not have a child with a peanut allergy or any other allergy.

Regardless of how the parent behaves (good or bad), the bottom line is the child's health and safety.

 

[crashbb]

I am glad we have never sat by you on a flight. So far we have only had one person take out nuts to eat during a flight. However our daughter mentioned that she and her brother were allergic and he was very nice and put them away. He seem very concerned and we were very gracious for his act of kindness. He could have eaten them but he didn't.

Did you say anything BEFORE the flight? Was there any sort of announcement at the gate?

I am very happy to accommodate, but if you only said something when the flight was underway (as it appears in your story), we'd have an issue. I have food allergies of my own and it is unlikely that there'd be anything that the airline was providing that I could eat. So, if you (or your daughter) only mentioned something that late, I might have to eat it anyway (I'd try to work something out, but you haven't left me many options by not giving me warning). I have learned to just avoid peanut/nut products on flights, but as they are my "go to" snack, I sometimes forget (or am in a rush and don't have a chance to grab something else).

If given warning before getting on the plane, there would be no question that I would avoid peanuts/nuts. Asking once the flight is under way...not quite so definite.

 

[jrmasm]

You may be correct, complaining on the DIS isn't going to change policy, and probably not going to change anyone's opinions either. But you have to admit, someone outright saying that even if the passengers are asked not to eat nut product for the safety of a passenger, they still will do so because it is their right, is a bit maddening, no?

Sure but are you willing to see the other side? Your flight has no meal service available so you prepare for that by bring a snack. After boarding the flight your are informed that you are not to eat that snack. That's maddening as well.

I don't a have an issue with airlines changes their policies in an across the board, blanket manner because then we can bring a snack that fits their guidelines.

 

[JLKennedy]

The few times she's flown we only alerted to flight attendant (on flights where peanuts/tree nuts weren't served) just double checking and every time they chose to make the announcement.

And herein lies the problem. YOU should'nt have told JUST the flight attendant...what are we THE MEANIES WITH THE NUTS, supposed to do AFTER THE FACT?