ALLERGIES

Why we can’t unfriend people for their political views

By Emily Rosenberg

Staff Writer

I get it.

We all have those family members or friends who we’d rather slap in the face than listen to talking about politics.

I spent the last three months blowing up my Facebook with pro-Biden material for my Fox News-watching relatives, and all they have to give me are angry faces and sarcastic comments.

But, as tempting as it is to cut our ties with those with whom we do not agree, we simply cannot, and it is more complicated than keeping our spot at the Thanksgiving table.

Many leftists and liberals are willing to pack their bags and leave relationships claiming a vote for Donald Trump, no matter your reasoning, was a vote for homophobia, sexism, white supremacy, ableism, xenophobia, and more bigotry. As if refusing to speak to them will magically show them how that is bad.

Except, Joe Biden didn’t win by a landslide. Almost half of the country, including a surprisingly large percentage of minorities, voted for

By Lydia Staber

Staff Writer

This year, allergy awareness month will be during the month of May. There are many conventions and educational tools that are presented by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America during this month in regard to allergy awareness.

Here is my story on why you should educate yourself on allergies, and most importantly, life-threatening allergies.

At the beginning of 2020, I had never had an allergic reaction in 20 years. This was due to an insane amount of education, preparation, and diligence. Having a life-threatening allergy is so much more than simply “avoiding said food.”

One evening, my family and I went out to eat at the Devin’s Grill. As a preface, I had eaten there before. I told the waitress I was allergic to peanuts and nuts, which I always do. I asked if I could eat what I wanted to order, and she said that it would be safe, and so I ate it.

When I got home, I experienced hives for the first time. Allergies are sporadic like that - you never know what kind of attack you will experience. It could be an anaphylactic attack, simple hives, or all of the above.

After that day of thankfully only getting hives, I refused to eat out at a restaurant for a month.

At the end of that month, I told myself that I was being ridiculous.

I went out to eat and had my first panic attack. I had never been a person with anxiety before, so this was most certainly new. After that day, I have had a panic attack at every restaurant I have been to, even ones that I have eaten at before. Trump. To many, he appealed to their insecurities about the economy, unemployment, and foreign affairs, and maybe it was easy to look past how he is bigoted because so were a lot of presidents prior to him. Anyone can see that America did not start being racist when Donald Trump took office.

However, it did become divided.

Even as Joe Biden took the stage in Wilmington, Delaware as the new President-Elect and promised to listen to all Americans, not just those who voted for him, Trump supporters still raged on Twitter about how the election was rigged.

As if the 2016 election didn’t ruin enough relationships, the 2020 election cycle has probably broken a record for the number of people blocked, unfriended, publicly shamed, and disowned.

However, unfriending people for their political views just opens the path for their hatred to grow stronger. You’re not going to change anything in them by cutting them off. More than likely, they’ll put a big fat Trump sign on their lawn to spite you.

A month after that, surprisingly, I had my first anaphylaxis episode. This episode happened seven hours after I ate any sort of food. I woke up at 5 in the morning and I honestly thought that I was dying.

I laid on the floor and cried out for my boyfriend to come and help me, but it was one of those nightmare moments where no sound came from my voice. He did hear my commotion and found me, and injected me with my EpiPen.

That was honestly the worst night of my life.

After that night, the panic attacks would come in a rush at random hours during the day. These panic attacks would bring hives.

Can you imagine the irony of a panic attack bringing hives to someone who has a fear of getting hives and having an allergic attack?

That is the real killer. I would get hives while having a panic attack, and then feel as if I was going into anaphylactic shock because my throat would close during an anaphylactic episode. I could not breathe - the same sensation of a panic attack.

In anaphylaxis, though, your throat never opens back up. You die.

These past months, I have been able to simmer down my panicky feelings, which have made the hives completely go away, which in part, made the panic subside.

All of my allergy attacks have been a third party’s doing. It is so much more than “avoiding peanuts and nuts.”

I remember, when I was a kid, people would call me “dramatic” or “un-

Rather, we need to have an open dialogue with each other. Talk to each other. Ask why we voted how we did. Try to see it from one another’s perspective.

Ask those we don’t agree with what their goals are for themselves, their peers, and their nation. Show them that their goals are not too different from ours. In the end, we all want success and happiness, right?

This creates a space for people to learn and grow from one another. People are much more likely to stray from their close-minded ways when you are willing to listen and understand.

If we want to create an environment in the future where people are so uncomfortable with bigotry that figures like Donald Trump don’t have a chance at winning, we need to listen to the other half of the country that was OK with voting for him and stop seeing them in only one light.

These conversations are vital. America is not as simple as racist people and those who are not. Bigotry is deeply woven into all of our instigrateful” when I would turn down a cookie they made for me, or an invitation to go out to get Chinese, simply because I was allergic. A mean girl in high school even joked to people about feeding me a nut to “see what happens”

How high-school can that sentence get?

But, all of that is trivial in comparison to the lotions, the hand soaps in restaurants, and the shampoos with Shea Butter in hotels.

The waiters who promise to wash their hands, but get too busy between meals and forget.

What about the airlines that serve peanuts as snacks while I am on board?

What about the loaf of bread sitting on your counter that “doesn’t have any nuts in it.” Read the label. It will, almost guaranteed, say “manufactured in a facility that also processes tree-nuts,” or “processed with peanuts.”

What about your dog that eats Blue Buffalo, and then licks my face?

Or the peanut oil used at Burger King and McDonald’s?

Or, the oven you used to bake a loaf of bread that contains nuts, and then the cookies you bake me for my 18th birthday in that same oven because you mean well?

I still have panic attacks every time I eat out somewhere new.

Those who know me, and even those who know me extremely well, will probably find this all so surprising.

Because I never talk about it, I play it off with a laugh and a “Oh, no thanks! I just ate.” tutions, and while it takes courage to confront those who are more blatant about it, it is going to take the effort of everyone to achieve equality.

That means listening to your friends who disagree with you.

We’ll never get the widespread support and acceptance we need to show our minority friends that they matter in politics if we don’t build bridges.

We do not have time to bicker.

Only in a unified America will we be a land where everyone is proud to

Don’t make this my last meal

stand for their flag.

It is entirely embarrassing to admit that I am scared of food, but I am.

Food terrifies me.

It is not me being dramatic, rude, or wanting sympathy.

I am trying to keep myself alive.

This is why people, restaurants, servers, schools, hotels, everything and everyone, have to be more informed on the dangers of food allergies.

According to the Food Allergy Research and Education, each year in the U.S., 200,000 people require emergency medical care for allergic reactions to food.”

Anaphylaxis is a deadly occurrence. It should never be taken lightly.

Here are some great links to go to! https://www.foodallergy.org/resources/facts-and-statistics https:// acaai.org/allergies/types/food-allergy https://www.fda.gov/food/buy-storeserve-safe-food/what-you-needknow-about-food-allergies

Campus Conversations

What more do you think FSU could do to support people with disabilities? By Donald Halsing, Associate Editor

“I feel like they don’t really advertise what they do enough for people to understand what they could improve upon. I think that if they clarify what they do offer, that is a way that they could improve it.” -Charity Marino, sophomore “I don’t know, really. I don’t really see them doing much now. They have CASA and everything, but that’s all I’ve seen - I haven’t really noticed much other than that.” -Kyle Bolger, sophomore

“Have the ability to have more accessibility to the dorm buildings. Pierce and Horace Mann aren’t really accessible for anyone who needs wheelchairs or need assistance walking because there are no elevators.” -Catherine Henry, sophomore “They could do more inclusive activities, like more sports or something like that for them, because our sports aren’t really inclusive for people with disabilities.” -Krista Hoegen, junior

“Especially right now, during the pandemic, I think on-site support would be helpful. I have dyslexia, so I have a learning disability. Instead of Zoom meetings and online things, it might be easier - at least during this time - to have at least one person on campus to help.”

-Meggan Law, freshman

“There’s no elevators or anything in Horace Mann and Pierce, so that is a big hindrance for many people.” -Emily Atherton, sophomore