As a mom to a child who has a peanut allergy, I don't expect everyone around me or my son not to eat peanut butter, peanuts etc.....We make sure that we alert SW of the allergy when we purchase our tickets, and we also let them know when we check in. I also let the gate agent know when I get to the gate so that they can make the decision or not whether to announce they would prefer you to not have peanuts on the flight or not and also to see whether they are going to serve the peanuts as a snack or offer an alternative. For the record, I don't ever recall SW announcing it in the terminal to allow others a choice to get another snack....that is a good idea, but as some others have said, there are so many allergies to everything that its kind of hard to discriminate against one and not the other.
I do preboard with my son and generally if I had my choice would like the front row so as not to subject him to being in the middle of people, I feel it lessens our risk, but that isn't always able to happen either.
I understand how sensitive people can be about the subject and I don't believe that I can MAKE you not eat your peanuts or peanut products, but if you make that choice, would you at least have the courtesy to let that passenger or his/her parent know that you are going to eat them if you know who they are at least. Or could you let the FA know so they can alert the passenger? I would encourage this for all allergies, not just peanuts. I completely understand that there are life threatening allergies to many other things not just peanuts.
I make it a point to let the people in the neighboring rows know that my son has an allergy and just ask them nicely if they could just let me know that they are going to choose to eat their peanut product anyways. That way, if I see them go to the bathroom, etc, I will be extra diligent in wiping down the handles etc. I would probably have my son use purell to wash his hands rather than use the sink etc.
As some others have said, its just courtesy. My son's allergy is extremely severe, but I haven't raised him in the "no peanut bubble". I can't be around to protect him 24/7 for the rest of his life. He needs to learn to deal with his allergy himself. BTW, he is 6. He is not in a peanut-free classroom. We even have peanuts/PB in our house. My older daughter LOVES it. She just knows that anytime she eats it, she lets me know. She washes up really well afterwards, and then I wash everything down that she came in contact with. My allergic child will usually go in the other room when she is eating.....unfortunately, I can't put him in another room while on a plane. It would just be nice if I had the "heads up" if someone is eating something that may be an issue for my child. I tend to do this everywhere we go. I always ask if someone is allergic if we are going to be eating food outside of our house. As I said, I don't expect the world to cater to me or my child's allergies.....that's not fair, but if you are made aware of it and make a choice to eat it (food), use it (disinfectant wipes as a PP said they are allergic to) just let others know around you.
