The Allergy Circus

This will be a short but sweet post. Just got back from a late night shoot, we were filming a scene where a woman eats nuts and kisses a guy who is allergic to nuts. Of course this was surrounded by jokes about people with a nut allergy and jokes about me. Ever since I was in primary school, people have always made fun of me for being allergic to nuts, the jokes are old, they are boring, but still people find it hilarious. It doesn't matter that it is actually quite painful. Your face can swell up, your throat can close up, your skin itches, its takes a while for the feeling to go, just a few examples of reactions. Apart from the fact that all food now states it may contain nuts, the teasing and the jokes are the worst part of an allergy. No matter where I am or what I'm doing my deathly allergy becomes the joke of the day. No doubt if people I know are reading this, they will just laugh. To be fair, even my family think my nut allergy doesn't exist anymore. A family member (who will remain nameless) made some rice and put pesto in it, I ate it, had one mouthful and had an allergic reaction, luckily I took some pills in time. A few days later, they made the same rice, told me there was no pesto in it, I ate some, I had another reaction, the family member had lied, later they admitted it saying that they thought the allergy was all in my head. A nut allergy isn't funny, its painful, and I'd like to say I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but I do to anyone who has ever laughed or made fun of someone with a nut allergy.