Tuesday, April 28, 2009

not fair

I enjoyed a childhood completely free of allergies. While I knew kids who couldn't have milk or couldn't play on grass, I could eat and/or play on anything.

When I was pregnant, I was sporadically lactose intolerant. Fun.

After I had my kid, I could drink milk again, but I developed seasonal allergies - because, I guess, the stretch marks weren't enough? Whatever, seasonal allergies can be managed with over the counter stuff.

A couple of years ago, I developed... something with peanut butter - whenever I eat it, I get nauseous, I get a headaches and I generally feel like shit for about a day afterwards. Whatever, in spite of one or two peanut butter cookie cravings a year, I can live without the stuff.

Today, on the way home from the farmer's market*, I reach over into the bag full of beautiful red strawberries and pop one into my mouth. Yum. Strawberries that were on the vine this morning? It doesn't get much better than that. So I eat another one. And another one. And another one. Then I realize that my lips feel all tingly and kind of... puffy. By the time I get home, my throat is kind of achy and swollen and I feel gross. So I drink a bunch of water and assume that I'm still sick or something. Within a couple hours, I'm feeling much better, so I grab another handful of berries and chow down. Guess what? Puffy lips and swollen throat again. WTF? Who the fuck is allergic to strawberries? And where does my body get off developing a damn strawberry allergy when I live in the damn strawberry capital OF THE PLANET**? Why couldn't I be allergic to brussle sprouts or kumquats or something else I don't and won't ever eat?



*is it weird that I find myself dressing like a hippy whenever I go to the farmer's market? flowered shirts, faded jeans, old flip flops

** I have no idea if that is true or not