Waiting to board our plane and....

[undertheradar]

This is where the hyperbole gets exhausting. The odds of someone reacting because you had peanut butter four hours ago (and presumably washed your hands and brushed your teeth after breakfast because that's just good hygiene) is just microscopic. It's ridiculous on both sides. I mean, do you routinely leave the house with visibal food smeared on you? Are you hugging or kissing strangers? Touching things that belong to others? I bet you aren't so this "I ate peanut butter two weeks ago. You should drive" is as exhausting as someone saying that you consuming peanut butter hours prior will cause a deadly reaction. Unless someone gets inappropriate, nothing will happen.

I hate the drama on this from both sides.

And, I'm going to hold to my selfish label. If you can do something small to help another person and you won't because "my rights!" you probably are not only selfish, you're also probably not very nice and I don't care what the situation is. That's true, for me, across the board.

Why are only those who don't share your view selfish? If my family member were that much at risk, there is zero chance that we would take that risk. Or am I being selfish because the family with the highly allergic person has other travel options available?

 

[sunshinehighway]

This is where the hyperbole gets exhausting. The odds of someone reacting because you had peanut butter four hours ago (and presumably washed your hands and brushed your teeth after breakfast because that's just good hygiene) is just microscopic. It's ridiculous on both sides. I mean, do you routinely leave the house with visibal food smeared on you? Are you hugging or kissing strangers? Touching things that belong to others? I bet you aren't so this "I ate peanut butter two weeks ago. You should drive" is as exhausting as someone saying that you consuming peanut butter hours prior will cause a deadly reaction. Unless someone gets inappropriate, nothing will happen.

I hate the drama on this from both sides.

And, I'm going to hold to my selfish label. If you can do something small to help another person and you won't because "my rights!" you probably are not only selfish, you're also probably not very nice and I don't care what the situation is. That's true, for me, across the board.

In regards to the bolded, those are the types of things people lead us to believe on these types of threads. When you have posters going on and on about how extremely, deathly allergic they (or their kid) is what do you expect? When you have people wanting to ban anything with any trace of peanuts because they claim the smallest particle within 50 feet of them could kill them, what do you expect?
A lot of the hyperbole comes from people exaggerating their allergy in the first place.
You hate to see drama on both sides, yet you only call out one side.

 

[kimblebee]

I don't have a peanut allergy but a tree nut allergy. If I eat even a tiny piece my throat swells shut, so it's severe. At Christmas I was over at my parents house and my dad started eating some mixed nuts out of a can. Within a few minutes my eyes were watering and I could feel my mouth tingling...it's the way I can tell I'm about to have a reaction. I did have to leave the room and luckily I didn't go into a full reaction.

I'm just adding this to the conversation to counter the people who say you have to ingest the nuts to have a reaction. It may be different for peanuts but I doubt it.

 

[Christine]

I don't have a peanut allergy but a tree nut allergy. If I eat even a tiny piece my throat swells shut, so it's severe. At Christmas I was over at my parents house and my dad started eating some mixed nuts out of a can. Within a few minutes my eyes were watering and I could feel my mouth tingling...it's the way I can tell I'm about to have a reaction. I did have to leave the room and luckily I didn't go into a full reaction.

I'm just adding this to the conversation to counter the people who say you have to ingest the nuts to have a reaction. It may be different for peanuts but I doubt it.

In some way, you did "ingest." There must have been nut dust coming from the can and you inhaled it internally. Or it made contact with your eye somehow and got into your bloodstream that way.

 

[lovin'fl]

Didn't read the whole thread but couldn't allergy person wear a mask (like folks wore when worried about Sars or Ebola) and sit in front row?

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

So OP, how was the flight?

 

[Disneybuckeye]

I think you have hit on one reason people get so testy about this whole thing. The thought that someone could be held legally responsible for harming someone else simply by eating their own, perfectly legal and normal snack is, sadly, not as far fetched as it ought to be and it is ridiculous.

Let's go back to the man who was banned from future RyanAir flights when the peanuts he ate caused an anaphylatic reaction in a young passenger near him.
This man was a non native English speaker who did not understand verbal announcements about not eating peanuts and had no real reason to believe the announcements being made were anythign other than the normal and basic flight safety, and "drink service will be starting soon" types of things. He had been served peanuts on a prior flight so had no reason to think they were not appropriate flight food. He was totally minding his own business and having a simple snack and then was suddenly made to feel that he was to blame for this medical issue and also lost the ability to fly with the carrier in the future. How is that right or fair? How is it OK for the family of the child with an allergy to place that kind of responsibility and guilt on perfect strangers?

What if someone does not speak English or speak it well enough to follow such a random announcement in a hard to hear environment (as happened above)?

What if he A/V system on the flight (or speaker in one section of the aircraft) is such that announcements are garbled and the passengers cannot understand it? (I had that on my most recent flight)

What if a passenger is deaf and does not hear?

What if a passenger is tired and not really focusing on those preflight things and misses hearing the announcement?

What if a passenger does not realize there are nuts in the snack mix or granola bar they have with them?

etc, etc---I think it is patently wrong to hold other people, total strangers, with no real warning and only the most basic ways of informing them, responsible for the life and death safety of a child; especially when the child can die from the stranger simply eating a common snack.

Completely agee with this. DH and I fly a lot. We are Delta Platinum so are usually upgraded before we leave for the airport. We board with the first group. We sit in the waiting area and pay zero attention to what the gate agents are saying. We have developed subconscious hearing that we really only perk up and listen when the word delay triggers us to zone back in. Same thing once we are on the plane. We completely tune out the safery and other announcements. We would easily miss this message verbally announced at either of these times.

I doubt airlines will every do the allergy at check in or puchase notification. Might open up a liability issues if the flyer still has some type of reaction from someone not complying, or old peanut dust anywhere in the plane. We all know how young children like to touch anything and everything. No way would an airline want to be responsible for anything happening.

 

[3Gsandme]

In regards to the bolded, those are the types of things people lead us to believe on these types of threads. When you have posters going on and on about how extremely, deathly allergic they (or their kid) is what do you expect? When you have people wanting to ban anything with any trace of peanuts because they claim the smallest particle within 50 feet of them could kill them, what do you expect?
A lot of the hyperbole comes from people exaggerating their allergy in the first place.
You hate to see drama on both sides, yet you only call out one side.

I'm pretty sure the post you quoted called out hyperbole on both sides, but let me make it super clear.

1) The chances of your child dying because someone consumed peanut products hours before they came in contact you with is pretty freaking low. Unless your kid is in the practice of hugging, kissing or touching things belonging to strangers, you have little to worry about and should stop using it as an arguement. It's the same as saying you should never use an umbrella because lightning.

2) The chances of you putting someone at risk because you had peanut butter toast for breakfast and then brushed your teeth and washed your hands (typical normal hygiene) is slim to none. Arguing that no one would every be safe isn't productive because it's not true. Unless you're in the habit of hugging and kissing strangers or touching their stuff, you're probably just fine with normal hygeine practices.

There.

The hyperbole is stupid. If you're engaging in it on either side, you're part of the problem. You're either leaving families feeling attacked or making the general public feel as though they can never consume or use something you're allergic to. Neither of this are true.

I don't believe airlines should serve peanuts. Airborne anaphylaxsis is super rare, but an airplane is one place where it COULD happen (large numbers of people opening peanut packages at the same time and releasing peanut proteins into the air). That's why not serving peanuts on the plane is a big deal.

I believe that it is the job of the family of the allergic family to inform the airline as soon as they are booked about their family members food allergy.

I think people need to educate themselves on how far normal hygiene practices go towards preventing accidental exposures (wash your darn hands).

I think parents need to work with their child's allergists to determine the least restrictive environment for him/he AND their classmates. I don't believe in the effectiveness of a full out nut/peanut ban as children age. In young children (I'd say preschool-1st grade) it probably does make good sense, but after that, allergic kids need to be their own advocates, which is something I've said in this thread about how we handled our daughter's allergy.

I wish allergic parents would stop being so reactionary and I wish the general public would start being more understanding.

 

[kimblebee]

In some way, you did "ingest." There must have been nut dust coming from the can and you inhaled it internally. Or it made contact with your eye somehow and got into your bloodstream that way.

Nope, he opened the can upstairs and then came to the basement with it where I was sitting. He was sitting about 10-15 feet away from me eating them. It was a year or so ago so I can't say if I rubbed my eye or not but seriously...I had a reaction. I am a person telling you that you don't have to ingest the nut to have a reaction..

 

[phorsenuf]

Nope, he opened the can upstairs and then came to the basement with it where I was sitting. He was sitting about 10-15 feet away from me eating them. It was a year or so ago so I can't say if I rubbed my eye or not but seriously...I had a reaction. I am a person telling you that you don't have to ingest the nut to have a reaction..

That brings up an interesting point. You always hear about peanut allergies, but what about tree nut allergies and flying. There are many snack with nuts in them. Has anyone ever heard them make an announcement about nuts?

 

[kimblebee]

For the record, I wouldn't ask for an announcement to be made for a nut free flight. My allergy is worst if I am the one eating the nuts so obviously I would avoid the snacks. Funny, I've never even thought about what I'd do if I was on a plane and the person beside me started eating a big bag of cashews.

 

[Christine]

Nope, he opened the can upstairs and then came to the basement with it where I was sitting. He was sitting about 10-15 feet away from me eating them. It was a year or so ago so I can't say if I rubbed my eye or not but seriously...I had a reaction. I am a person telling you that you don't have to ingest the nut to have a reaction..

Oh, I believe you reacted. I just wonder how. I do not believe "the smell" causes a reaction. Somehow, you got it on you/in you. My son has a PA so, hey, I'm on your side!

 

[3Gsandme]

EWWW

Oh, it's totally gross. LOL But, I think I'd feel better deciding he accidentally spit on me than having an airborne reaction under those circumstances.

 

[kimblebee]

He was sitting on the opposite side of the room so I'm going to say no, he didn't hock a loogie on me LOL

I was really surprised when I did react because it was the first time it had happened from just being around someone eating nuts.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm sure that nut dust (for lack of a better term) can be airborne....so, if it gets in your eyes, or nose, sure, you could quite possibly react.
And I have no issue at all not eating peanuts on the plane if asked not to. Not a big deal. BUT...and this is my issue....what happens if the child sitting in your child's seat, prior to your boarding, has had peanut butter. And he has gotten it on the tray, arm rests and possible the seat itself. And then, your child touches this left behind oil...and then sticks his finger in his mouth or nose, or whatever. Entirely possible for a reaction to happen as a result.
Perhaps airlines should just stop serving bags of peanuts. The vast majority of passengers aren't going to be bringing on peanuts....perhaps their snacks might have peanuts in them, but in the vast majority of cases, nothing would be dangerous unless sitting right next to an allergic person.
And I still think that if my child had a life-threatening allergy, there is no way I would put my trust in complete strangers on a plane. I would either not fly, or I would outfit my child with a mask that would prevent any allergens from getting through....gloves on the hands as well.

 

[Christine]

I'm sure that nut dust (for lack of a better term) can be airborne....so, if it gets in your eyes, or nose, sure, you could quite possibly react.
And I have no issue at all not eating peanuts on the plane if asked not to. Not a big deal. BUT...and this is my issue....what happens if the child sitting in your child's seat, prior to your boarding, has had peanut butter. And he has gotten it on the tray, arm rests and possible the seat itself. And then, your child touches this left behind oil...and then sticks his finger in his mouth or nose, or whatever. Entirely possible for a reaction to happen as a result.
Perhaps airlines should just stop serving bags of peanuts. The vast majority of passengers aren't going to be bringing on peanuts....perhaps their snacks might have peanuts in them, but in the vast majority of cases, nothing would be dangerous unless sitting right next to an allergic person.
And I still think that if my child had a life-threatening allergy, there is no way I would put my trust in complete strangers on a plane. I would either not fly, or I would outfit my child with a mask that would prevent any allergens from getting through....gloves on the hands as well.

This can certainly happen which is, from what I read, what they suspect in the RyanAir case versus it being the man 4 rows up. They don't really know. That said, most peanut allergic people (or their parents) are allowed to pre-board so they have time to go on the plane and do a thorough wipe down.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

Am I really the only one that cares about how the OP's flight was?

 

[Topper]

I found a new snack for my next flight!

 

[Topper]

Am I really the only one that cares about how the OP's flight was?

@Goofy_Disney_Dad , you could try "tagging" them to make sure they see your request.

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

@Goofy_Disney_Dad , you could try "tagging" them to make sure they see your request.

Good idea! Thanks!