Conversations about Crackers

N: "Hey, do you want some crackers? They're healthy."

J: "Well of course they are. They're not poison."

N: "Oh, Robynne, do you want some?"

R: "No thanks."

J: "Why? Do you think they'll poison you?" (Obviously joking)

R: "Umm, actually they would."

N: "Oh, are you allergic to something?"

R: "Yep."

N: "Is it gluten?"

R: "Yep."

N: "Preference or allergy?" (And immediately got distracted by someone else talking to her for a few seconds.)

J: "Oh, it's a preference, but I bet she says it's an allergy."

Umm... excuse me?

A) You have no place saying that, ever. About anyone. To make an assumption that someone is attention-needy and dramatic is rude, assuming, and officially classifies you as a jerk.

B) You don't know me well enough to make a joke, if that's what you were trying to do.

C) If you did know me better, you would know that I have celiac disease (which is not an allergy) and that people who don't eat gluten out of preference but go around saying it's an allergy are the people that make my life the most difficult.

D) I wish I had a preference. I wish I was turning those crackers down by choice. I wish I had made this decision for myself. I only wish that I had any say in whether or not I eat gluten.

So before you go saying judgmental, rude, assuming statements about somebody, maybe get to know them first.

Oh, and in case you're wondering about the above conversation, it did continue...

R: (After staring at J for a solid few seconds, I regained my composure.) "I have celiac disease."

J: "What?"

R: "I have celiac disease."

J: "What's that?"

R: "It's an auto-immune disorder." (I know I was being unhelpful, I was still a little thrown off, and I figured if someone is going to go around saying that other people call it an allergy, they would at least know what an allergy sounds like.)

N: (Finally able to rejoin the conversation.) "It means she can't eat gluten because her body attacks itself."

And that was pretty much the end of that whole conversation. I was really impressed by N who had knowledge of gluten preference, allergy and celiac disease, without having anyone in her immediate life who is afflicted.

And I was really upset at J. I don't even care if he's ignorant and unaware and the general public needs more education. That was rude.