gluten free, so what?

my manifesto.

oh, my dearest gluten free followers.

yesterday my roommates and I had dinner at our friends’ apartment.  you should know, by now, that my roommates have never been anything but supportive of my eating concerns, and these friends have always gone out of their way to make sure I’m safe, too.  

(you should also know that one of my roommates is a veggie and the other has an egg allergy.)

so one of these friends posted an anticipatory Facebook message, he was looking forward to this “gluten-free, vegetarian, egg-free dinner.”

immediately friends of his - who don’t know the three of us with these eating issues - started commenting with replies like: “So, veggies?” or “EW!”

and seriously?  UGH.  

first of all, dinner was delicious: a baked pasta dish (one with GF pasta just for me) with ricotta and spinach and oven-roasted tomatoes.  

second of all, WE LIVE IN THE 21ST CENTURY!  AND WE EAT JUST FINE!  there’s almost NOTHING we can’t eat somehow.

people are just so IGNORANT.  and moreover, they don’t THINK. they don’t realize that saying things like “EW” makes it that MUCH harder for me, in my own little Celiac-bubble, to stay Gluten Free Positive.  I’m 2.5+ years GF, I’ve handled my share of jokes and poorly worded comments, but it never STOPS hitting me.  it never quite STOPS hurting.

I don’t know if this happens to you, but once people find out I have Celiac they tend to ask pretty personal questions - what were my symptoms, how was I diagnosed.  and then they always step back and apologize for asking so much and I tell them not to worry because I’m happy to teach people about Celiac.  I want to spread the infos EVERYWHERE.

I’m hopeful that one day people will understand allergies and diseases like we have.  they won’t say things like “I could never do that,” as if to suggest that it’s EASY for us.  they won’t “joke” that all we can eat is veggies and air.  they’ll remember that this isn’t necessarily a CHOICE and that it’s something we will ALWAYS have to live with.

(until they invent a drug that allows us to eat gluten.  when they do that, my sister and I are driving across the country to eat some deep fried steak tips we saw on a Food Network show once.  it’s already been decided.)

one of the reasons I started this blog was because I saw a lot of ignorance - on Tumblr specifically, and in the world in general.  we owe it to ourselves to be as vocal about this disease as we want, to share as MUCH information as we possibly can with the world, so that our children (who, let’s be honest, have a greater chance of Celiac just by being OUR children) live in a world where announcing that you’re having a gluten-free dinner isn’t met with mockery and disgust, but with mild interest and maybe even some recipe suggestions.

it’s Celiac Awareness Month guys.  let’s do this.

I work in a pretty nice midtown Manhattan office building, and sometimes the building management likes to do little things for its tenants.  this morning, there was free breakfast in the lobby.

breakfast you say?

oh, just platters and platters of pastries.  far as the eye can see.

I was able to get some coffee, at least, but I dream of a world where any standard free lunch/breakfast scenario involves at least ONE GF/allergen-friendly option, right?

(at least I was free of the temptation to eat eight million donuts, I guess.  I just bought a new dress for a wedding at the end of May, and losing a couple pounds couldn’t hurt.)

the dishwasher dilemma

I’m moving this summer.  

I’m staying in Manhattan of course because I don’t think the outer boroughs count.  My roommates are moving on and I’m trying to find a room in somebody’s apartment or somebody to apartment hunt with.

here’s the thing: I’ve lived with gluten-eaters since my diagnosis.  when I graduated from college I tried briefly to find a GF roommate but that was impossible, come on.  and the thing is, it’s worked out fine.  

why? because we have a dishwasher.

I spent a weekend at a friend’s apartment last October.  we cooked and cooked and cooked and when I got home I was sicker than I’d ever been.  she didn’t have a dishwasher, and hand-washing doesn’t get rid of all the gluten, I guess.

so I’m going into this apartment hunt with the understanding that I NEED a dishwasher.  that no matter how wonderful the two-bedroom walkup in Nolita looks, if it doesn’t have a dishwasher, I can’t think about it.

sucks, right?

NYC apartment hunting is already horrible and confusing and traumatic, and I have to add another absolute to my list.

because life, and Celiac, aren’t fair.

poll.

guys, I have a question for you all.

I’m throwing a part for the return of Doctor Who on March 30.  my roommates and I get BBCAmerica, so we like to share the love.  we’re going to be inviting about 10-15 people (which is PLENTY for our tiny apartment) and they range from close friends of mine to distant acquaintances.

I’m doing most of the organizing - which isn’t a tremendous amount, but just involves doing the Facebook post and coordinating food buys and being in charge of details like when things start.  I took this on voluntarily; I actually love hosting parties.

in this invite, I’m considering adding a note asking people to bring food or drink, but to please only bring GF things.  I’m adding some examples, some good stores to visit, and telling them that they should ask if they have any questions.

what do you think: good idea, or wayyy selfish?