A few months ago my family had dinner at Dick’s Wings and Grill. Due to my allergy, I already knew it would be difficult to find something I could eat, so I decided I would just eat when I got back home.
My family began to order food. My mother saw that they sell French fries (plain, without any seasoning just salt) and asks if I would like to order some. We ask what type of oil they use; we were told vegetable oil. So she proceed to order the fries. I was excited because when I go out with my family, I usually cannot eat.
We told the waitress about my allergy to paper and made sure they knew what would happen if my food made contact with any paper. A few moments later, I receive a basket of fries lined with aluminum foil. Once again I asked to make sure the fries were not in contact with paper, meaning they were transferred directly from the fryer to the aluminum lined basket. I was told yes.
I began to eat the fries. 2-3 minutes later, I started to feel weak. My legs and arms were tingly and my hands were hurting. I immediately took 2 allergy pills to help stop the reaction and my mother took me home.
I spent the next two days in bed because I was too weak to get up. After a reaction it takes my body a week or so to return to its normal state. A week after I consumed the fries, my hands were still sore and red and I had been constipated ever since that day.
The day after we ate at Dick’s Wings and Grill, my mother called the restaurant and confronted them. They owned up to the fact that they did put my fries on paper before giving them to me. My mother told them that because of their carelessness and ignorance, I had a horrible reaction.
After that experience, I have become paranoid to eat out. If my food touches paper I know I will end up feeling the same way and that is something I do not wish to experience ever again.
The sad part is that people are incredibly ignorant. Many doubt my allergy because it is ‘weird’. However, it is essential for people to take it seriously, because at the end of the day it is MY health (not theirs) that is put at risk.
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