No, I can't eat that, thank you for reminding me...again

[Minmom3]

I have found most people take it more seriously if you say you have celiac disease instead of saying you're gluten-free.  The former makes it clear that it's a medical condition and not a choice.  It's serious stuff and should be taken seriously.

My latex allergy is rarely taken seriously.  People make snarky jokes about my Scrabble life or ask why I'm wary of balloons.  A contact reaction will make my body discolor and scab over.  Don't ask what happens to my throat and lungs when someone pops a ton of balloons too close to me (this has happened and I had to miss work the next day).

Wow.  Nobody blows that one off at anyplace I've ever worked.  They take it so seriously it was entirely taken out of the vet tech lab at school - because every other year or so, they get a student with an allergy to latex, and all 4 hospitals I've worked in have gradually switched to just nitrile gloves all the time, and that's without having any employees with a latex allergy.  It's just easier to pre-handle it, so to speak.

I'm sorry people are such jerks to you about it.

[Outdoor Girl]

When I started my new job, I let my supervisors know that I had a contact allergy to latex and asked for nitrile gloves.  Not only did I get nitrile gloves, they made the decision to remove latex gloves from the office completely and everybody uses nitrile, now.  We only need them a couple of times a month out in the field but it's nice that I don't have to worry about what box of gloves I grab.

JacklynHyde, I'm sorry you haven't had the same experience.