Allergy Insanity

[EmilyRose1982]

This story revolves around an older woman, one who, from where my nose stands, doesn't shower or wear deodorant. She also wears loose, low-cut tank tops in the summer that no woman over 50 should EVER wear.

This SC has been coming to my store for as long as I've worked there, usually ordering the same thing--a whole milk latte.

Several months ago, she began asking about our bakery items. I discovered she has a violent allergy to Yellow #5 (I think it was #5), and had to be certain she didn't consume anything with that specific food coloring in it.

Today though, she was WAY over the top about it.

I was on the bar, and my CW was taking orders at front. It was obvious she was going to be a problem when she walked in and proceeded to hover behind my drink screen, giving me sideways looks.

CW finished with the previous customer, and then turned to SC.

CW: Can I help you?
.......................................
SC: Oh are you talking to me?
CW: Yeah...there's no one behind you....
SC: Oh I thought you were talking to your machine there, haha.
CW: Right....what can I get for you?
SC: Well I want a green tea, but I need to see the ingredient list.

I heard her request, and knowing why she requested it, I entered the conversation (sigh).

Me: Our teas have no added chemicals or colorings, it's just tea, plain and simple.
SC: Well I need to see an ingredient list...bad allergy....blah blah blah....

CW humored her and dug out our guidebook to beans and teas, but there's no ingredients in there BECAUSE IT'S JUST FRAKKING TEA!!!!!!!!!!!

SC: I need to see that list or I'll have to call headquarters!!!
Me: I can assure you there's no food coloring in our teas--
SC: I understand that but I NEED TO SEE THE INGREDIENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CW: Well we don't have that....
SC: FINE!!! NEVER MIND!!!!!!!!!!!

She left in a huff. Good riddance.

Please don't misunderstand me, I take food allergies very seriously. But this was WAY over the top. What manufacturer puts food coloring in tea? And I have seen the ingredients of other teas at our shop (take-home tins on the merch. shelf) and they only list tea and maybe one or two other flavors such as citrus. I have NEVER seen food coloring on TEA.

This was just the latest and greatest incident with this woman. She's always been a major pain in the ass, and not just with her allergy. Needless to say, after this encounter, I was more than ready to say "fuck it" and go home for the day.

[Tanzanite]

Wow! That's rather obnoxious of her. I mean that yeah, yellow #5 is in almost everything, but when it comes to drinks it's only ususally in powdered drink mixes. Tea is just that. Tea leaves and water.

[iradney]

Leaves, water, sugar, milk, and a biscuit to dunk it in

[ralerin]

Myeh, I heard allegations that "Bipton" tea has some sort of coloring in, but that could just be my mother's bias.

[Peppergirl]

It's people like this that give some food-allergy people a bad rep.

[EmilyRose1982]

I have no problem bending over backwards for people who have such food allergies as peanuts and such, but her allergy is so, for lack of a better word, contained, I don't see why she gets so insane over it. It's a food coloring. You're not going to find food coloring in plain, natural items such as coffee and tea. And it's not going to "jump" from one product to another, like nuts can. I think the next time I see her, I'll make sure she gets decaf, because she needs to calm the fuck down.

[TheComputerError]

In my mind, anything that is called "tea" is just that: tea leaves steeped in hot water.
Anything that adds to that formula should be called a "tea drink", just like anything that's not 100% juice is called a "juice drink".

Yes, yes. I know there's the much-beloved "iced tea", but adding sugar (in my opinion) makes it a "tea drink".

I recognize that I'm a bit of a tea purist, but then again I was taught to like the taste of plain hot green tea at a very young age at a local Chinese restaurant. I'm going to stop here before I expound upon you my tea-related beliefs as I don't really want to threadjack.

But, yes. Tea contains water infused with molecules from tea leaves dissolved therein. Technically, tea doesn't even contain tea, just bits of it. :P

[EmilyRose1982]

In my mind, anything that is called "tea" is just that: tea leaves steeped in hot water.
Anything that adds to that formula should be called a "tea drink", just like anything that's not 100% juice is called a "juice drink".

Yes, yes. I know there's the much-beloved "iced tea", but adding sugar (in my opinion) makes it a "tea drink".

I recognize that I'm a bit of a tea purist, but then again I was taught to like the taste of plain hot green tea at a very young age at a local Chinese restaurant. I'm going to stop here before I expound upon you my tea-related beliefs as I don't really want to threadjack.

But, yes. Tea contains water infused with molecules from tea leaves dissolved therein. Technically, tea doesn't even contain tea, just bits of it. :P

That's exactly what our tea is---loose leaf tea steeped in water to make a high concentrated extract (meaning its steeped for 20 min. so its REALLY strong by itself). To make an iced tea, we use 1-3 cbc's mixed with water and ice to dilute it. So yeah, our iced teas are nothing more that tea-infused water and ice. That's what I was trying to tell nutsy, but she wouldn't listen.
Hopefully I won't have to deal with her anytime soon.

[Whiskey]

A little OT but not really

I have a customer (a couple actually) who'll say "No tomato I'M ALLLLLERRRRRRRGICCCCCCCCCCCCCC" and then when I say "So, no ketchup too?" they tell me ketchup is perfectly fine.


But its made with tomatoes...I assume i'm being lied to because obviously if they say theyre allergic we totally wont put them on, but if they dont say it we will because HAHAHA!

Also, we save money when you don't want stuff on your food, we aren't putting anything on there you didn't order or you said you didnt want.

[Ephany]

Not to threadjack, but you can be allergic to raw tomatoes and not allergic to tomatoe products.

[sylvier]

She's probably just lonely and bored. If she comes around again, invite her to drop off a resume. No just kidding!

[Difdi]

I suppose it's possible the SC believes that green tea is called that because it's tea + food coloring...I don't know how one might come to that conclusion, but I suppose it's possible.

As for the tomato/ketchup allergy thing, some people are allergic specifically to tomato skins (and that particular allergy, if one has it at all, tends to be severe to the point of threatening life, much like peanut allergies). Ketchup doesn't have tomato skins in it.

[Whiskey]

As for the tomato/ketchup allergy thing, some people are allergic specifically to tomato skins (and that particular allergy, if one has it at all, tends to be severe to the point of threatening life, much like peanut allergies). Ketchup doesn't have tomato skins in it.

Thats what I was wondering. My mom used to say she was allergic to pickles so they wouldnt put them on there. Obviously, shes not.

</allergy derail>

[Seshat]

I have what's technically called 'sensitivity'. It's what happens when you develop a toxin buildup of specific toxins; you then overload if you burden your system with more of those toxins.

So if you have a buildup of toxins that are in carrots, you get sick if you have carrot. If a buildup of toxins in milk, you get sick with milk. Etc.
What type of 'sick' depends on which toxin set you're overloaded with.

An allergy generates a histamine reaction: hives, runny nose, runny eyes, or in some cases, the throat-swelling reaction that requires immediate use of an epi-pen.

Most people don't know the difference between an allergy and a sensitivity. Either way, you shouldn't have whatever it is you react to. But sensitivities are rarely immediately life-threatening, and allergies can be.

I tell people I'm allergic to seafood. I'm not - I'm sensitive to it. But if I don't want to go through the whole explanation of allergy vs sensitivity, I just say 'allergic'. If the server is looking alarmed, I might tell them 'it's just a mild allergy - I'm not going to die on you or anything - but it'd spoil my outing if I got hives'. With that whole reassuring-smile thing.
And I get what I need - I don't get seafood put on my pizza (or whatever).


That said, people who claim allergy when they just don't like X - meh. I don't like that either.

[TheComputerError]

An allergy generates a histamine reaction: hives, runny nose, runny eyes, or in some cases, the throat-swelling reaction that requires immediate use of an epi-pen.

Most people don't know the difference between an allergy and a sensitivity. Either way, you shouldn't have whatever it is you react to. But sensitivities are rarely immediately life-threatening, and allergies can be.

I tell people I'm allergic to seafood. I'm not - I'm sensitive to it. But if I don't want to go through the whole explanation of allergy vs sensitivity, I just say 'allergic'. If the server is looking alarmed, I might tell them 'it's just a mild allergy - I'm not going to die on you or anything - but it'd spoil my outing if I got hives'. With that whole reassuring-smile thing.
And I get what I need - I don't get seafood put on my pizza (or whatever).

I often tell people that I'm allergic to onions, but it's not an allergy or even a sensitivity. My body, for some unknown reason, refuses to properly digest some chemical compound found in raw onions (I suspect onion oil) and causes me severe gastrointestinal distress. As such, I tend to stick with just eschewing onions altogether as I can never be certain that the onion has been cooked enough to prevent the feeling of a knife in my lower abdomen.