Waiting to board our plane and....

[aaarcher86]

I'd refrain from eating nuts, but I'd be baffled. It's always a little bit of a struggle for me when people expect strangers to accommodate them. We have an autistic daughter. There's just a limit on reasonable accommodations, and I draw the line at affecting others. We are constantly measuring out situations ahead of time. It's pretty easy to say I wouldn't be on a flight if she had an allergy that severe.

But it is an interesting idea that people are boggled that others wouldn't just comply to help out. My daughter went through a phase where the only thing she'd eat was peanut butter sandwiches. All day. That's it.

If I packed her a sandwich or toe to help her cope with the flight, not meltdown, and not disrupt others, what the heck am I supposed to do? Who wins that battle? They're both accommodations for covered disabilities.

 

[mondragon]

I think this is an excellent solution. It is your responsibility to insure your or your child's safety. Why not buy and wear a mask that purifies your air rather than expecting others to take care of your safety. It just makes more sense and is tons more efficient to purify the air that one person needs instead of trying to purify the air for everyone.

I read a lot of everyone needs to accommodate me on threads like this. Take care of yourself and everyone will be happy.

Have you ever tried keeping one of those masks on a 2 year old. It's impossible. They will also need to wear a full face mask since it can enter the eyes.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Peanut butter is not a cure all for diabetes. There are innumerable acceptable alternatives. No one is asking passengers to fast for a day.

http://www.qualityhealth.com/diabetes-articles/best-emergency-snacks-people-diabetes
"On the flip side, if you experience a high blood sugar episode (also known ashyperglycemia), you’ll want to choose foods that are low in carbohydrates so that they don’t make the glucose levels rise even higher. Good choices for low-carb snacks (all of which have about 5 grams of carbohydrates or less) include:

• One portion of low-fat string cheese (120 calories).
• 1 slice of ham rolled up with one slice of low-fat cheese (120 calories).
• 1/4 cup of almonds (200 calories).
• ½ cup of raw vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms or peppers (under 25 calories).
• 1 hard-boiled egg (70 calories).
• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (approximately 180 calories)."

Most require refrigeration.

 

[mondragon]

How serious could the allergy be if the parents did not even notify the airline ahead of time. If my child's life was endangered by breathing peanut air you better believe that I would not leave it up to a gate announcement to save their life. This sounds like parental neglect.

Parental neglect...... HAHAHAAHA. As a parent you don't always think of things like that until you get there. It's neglect if they allow the child to board the plane w/o telling staff about the allergy and allowing them to eat whatever without checking the contents.

 

[aaarcher86]

Have you ever tried keeping one of those masks on a 2 year old. It's impossible. They will also need to wear a full face mask since it can enter the eyes.

There seem to be a lot of reasons why accommodating ones self won't work.

They're too young for masks. Driving isn't feasible. Family doesn't make enough money to homeschool.

 

[cabanafrau]

there is no rule where the family must notify the airline that a child/family member has an allergy. It does not even have to be nuts. So you are saying your snacks are more important than a child who has a severe allergy.

Why does each end of the hypothetical have to be an extreme? What if the allergy isn't life threatening and the nuts or other allergens aren't simply a snack for snacking's sake, but for a medical, dietary purpose?

If it's a simple snack for noshing on, no big deal to skip or swap out for an alternative.

How about this hypothetically? The allergy is pretty severe and the parents haven't done any notification until shortly before boarding call. Would it be appropriate for the family with the allergic child to offer to pay for a replacement treat for a family whose children have to either skip or swap out their already purchased treat for another one to accommodate the allergy? I'm going to bet the inconvenience and the cost feel a little more dear to the party bearing that burden.

 

[asta]

Have you ever tried keeping one of those masks on a 2 year old. It's impossible. They will also need to wear a full face mask since it can enter the eyes.

I have never tried but if that could save the child's life then I think the responsible parent figures out something that works to keep it on.

 

[morgan98]

Parental neglect...... HAHAHAAHA. As a parent you don't always think of things like that until you get there. It's neglect if they allow the child to board the plane w/o telling staff about the allergy and allowing them to eat whatever without checking the contents.

How can you not think of it as a parent if so much a whiff of a peanut could supposedly kill your child? I would think you would be on constant lookout for anyone who may be consuming peanut products anywhere in your vicinity.

How bad can it be if you get all the way through the airport, get ready to board the plane and decide to say, "Oh yeah, by the way, Johnny will die if anyone on the plane eats anything with peanuts."

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

*shaking my head as I read*. I guess I was brought up differently. I was taught to help out other people whenever possible.

AKK

 

[Dizlvr]

No biggie, a kid has an allergy that could be life threatening. Really I don't need to eat my peanuts and I'm not going to be a ***** about it either and say Oh well, too bad should have driven.

 

[Goon]

Would it be appropriate for the family with the allergic child to offer to pay for a replacement treat for a family whose children have to either skip or swap out their already purchased treat for another one to accommodate the allergy? I'm going to bet the inconvenience and the cost feel a little more dear to the party bearing that burden.

1,000,000 times this.

Surely someone asking for something like this doesn't mind buying a few bananas/fruit snacks/pretzels as an incentive for their request, right?

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

I've never heard of a person dying on an airplane because someone ate some peanuts or peanut butter. If it was that much of an issue I'd think it would happen pretty regularly.

 

[Dizlvr]

*shaking my head as I read*. I guess I was brought up differently. I was taught to help out other people whenever possible.

AKK

Makes you wonder what all those people would do if that child had a reaction, probably just sit there and not offer to help. I mean those parents should have known better right, and they NEED their peanuts and nobody is going to tell them they can't have them, who cares if someone dies as long as they get their Planters.

 

[MIGrandma]

Just to be on the safe side, we don't even take anything on board a plane that has peanuts. Just in case someone has an allergy, we don't have to worry about it. As a diabetic myself, I saw a PP said her mother needed her peanut butter crackers on the plane since she's diabetic. She doesn't "need" peanut butter crackers. There is a multitude of other options she can have in her purse. I usually take cheese crackers, and walnuts/almonds, some type of breakfast bar, etc. But I agree with others that if my child had such a severe peanut allergy, we would drive to our destination where we could be more in control of what the child comes in contact with. I can't even imagine having a child with such a severe allergy to peanuts though, it must be very, very difficult to deal with. I also can't imagine just shrugging my shoulders and eating something on a plane with peanuts in it, even though the passengers had been asked not to.

 

[sam_gordon]

I'm curious, though - why aren't flights randomly labeled "peanut-free" or "peanut-approved" up front, so you pick the flight you need/prefer before you even buy your ticket? That way, people with allergies could be more secure in knowing that they were flying with people aware of the peanut restrictions, and people with other health needs could avoid being caught in the middle.

Sounds good on paper, but what happens when flights get cancelled/delayed and people get distributed to other flights (that they DON'T get to choose)?

Who is going to notify every passenger. Airlines do not have time to do this. This is what I think airlines should do. When purchasing the ticket, have a popup/announcement come up asking travelers not to bring snacks containing nuts due to many travelers having allergies

Think of it this way. Last week on my flight back home a lady had her cat on the plane in a small carrier. I am very allergic to cats. Thankfully she was towards the back of the plane and I was up front. No one called/emailed me that someone was traveling with a car. What if I was sitting next to her and the flight was overbooked.

Sorry, the bolded is bull. It shouldn't be that hard to write the computer program so if a flight is marked as having someone with a severe allergy, an automatic email is sent out to everyone booked for that flight. That flight can then be marked in the booking software so someone selecting the flight knows ahead of time.

Simple.............anyone can live for the length of the flight without peanuts. Yet that persons allergy maybe live threatening.

Seems common sense and good manners would prevail and people can wait on the peanuts.

From another view........just help another person out!

AKK

I think you're missing the point. MOST (90%+) people WILL give up the peanuts after such an announcement. What folks are discussing is whether making the request is the BEST way to ensure there's no danger or if the notification (both TO the airline and TO the passengers) should be earlier.

People only think about themselves. I can go a few hrs without eating. Even if the airline notified every single person on the flight that there is a person with an allergy to nuts, they will still brings their snacks with nuts because they don't care. Junior must have their peanut m&m's. But as soon as junior develops an allergy, then they will care.

Funny, no one on the "anti-peanut" side has answered my question upthread... IF 'Junior' has such a severe allergy, WHY would you count on 150+ people (total strangers) to have heard the announcement, understood the announcement, and be willing to abide the announcement? What's going to happen when 'traveler A', who makes a late connection and keeps his headphones on, sits down in front of you and your child and pulls out a bag of peanut M&M's? I'll even go so far and say he's "rude" and "it's all about him". But now your child is in danger. Why do you even take the chance?

 

[FigmentFinder]

If I packed her a sandwich or toe to help her cope with the flight,

What do you do with the toe?


I've never been asked on a plane, but I certainly would refrain from peanuts. But I have no health issues that require snacks at set intervals, plus both my kids hate peanuts. The problem is many people wouldn't realize what items may contain traces of peanuts. My DD just started a new daycare that is peanut free, I had to look at a long list of things that I needed to checks the labels for. If no one in your family has allergies, you wouldn't even think of checking labels.

 

[cabanafrau]

1,000,000 times this.

Surely someone asking for something like this doesn't mind buying a few bananas/fruit snacks/pretzels as an incentive for their request, right?

If that attitude became a sort of expected social norm I have a feeling it would quiet some of the folks who make bogus claims about some of the allergies.

Note: I'm not saying all of the allergy claims are bogus, far from it. I happen to know from personal experience that people do make false claims about allergies for various reasons and in most of those cases if there was a cost or burden shifted onto them it would shut them up in a hurry.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I think you're missing the point. MOST (90%+) people WILL give up the peanuts after such an announcement. What folks are discussing is whether making the request is the BEST way to ensure there's no danger or if the notification (both TO the airline and TO the passengers) should be earlier.

I agree, that is another part of the story.

AKK

 

[mondragon]

*shaking my head as I read*. I guess I was brought up differently. I was taught to help out other people whenever possible.

AKK

Same here. Just go without your snacks. If someone requests that no nuts be served because their baby is severely allergic to nuts then I won't eat nuts. It's that simple. I won't be all bent out of shape if I have to purchase a separate $2 snack.

 

[aaarcher86]

What do you do with the toe?

Use it to add a little jam?!