If saying no to chocolate cake is the worst thing I do in my life, I'm doing okay.

Last year I was diagnosed with a number of food intolerances. Prior to my diagnosis, I was sick all the time; in the first 7 months of 2006, I lost 20 pounds. My diagnosis was bittersweet -- it meant feeling better again, but at the cost of not eating most of the foods I’d eaten my entire life ever again. Needless to say, acclimating to my new diet has been a physical, psychological, and emotional challenge. While some people in my life have been wonderfully understanding, traveling to multiple stores to ensure I have something to eat at social gatherings, others either ignore it completely or react like there’s a green boob growing out of my forehead. And then there’s the third lot who are just plain rude (if not a little mean), like the lady who verbally assaulted me for declining the chocolate cake she brought to the office today. There I was, sitting at my desk, not getting enough of this data entry stuff, when one of our most well-liked volunteers strode up to my desk. She noticed that I was eating a snack bar (allergen-free and quite tasty, thank you very much). Before I knew what was happening, she reached for my snack bar and scolded me for eating it. She told me to eat the cake in the kitchen instead. I explained, very politely, that I have a number of allergies and, therefore, I can’t eat regular chocolate cake, but that hey, that means there’s more for everyone else! She all but slammed my snack bar back on my desk, said “No, no. I don’t like that.” and stormed off. What?! As the dark mist of her trail lifted, I thought, Maybe she has some cognitive disability or something. Nevermind that I just overheard her engage my coworkers in a very well-organized, thoughtful conversation. What is it with people and food? I get that it can be socially and culturally significant. I get that some of it tastes like more (meaning I want more, give me more). I even get that it’s primal, that spurring the dust with our hooves and plunging ourselves into the trough is an action of instinct and lust. But still – some of us are different. It’s okay that we eat foods with weird names and bring coolers with Tupperware wherever we go. It’s okay because that means we’re alive. God forbid we don't eat your chocolate cake.