We all know someone with some sort of dietary restriction, whether they be vegan, vegetarian, have celiac disease, other allergies, or is just plain picky. Because eating is such a social activity, people with dietary restrictions sometimes experience anxiety and awkwardness at every meal, especially if their restriction is a voluntary one. Below are some experiences people with dietary restrictions know to be all too true.
1. “Want to have dinner at my parents place?”
Your friend or significant other has invited you over for dinner at their parent’s place. If they don’t know about your eating restrictions, you may be in for a world of anxiety. What are they making? Can I eat it without gagging? Will I look ungrateful if I have to decline? No one ever wants to hurt anyone’s parent’s feelings by turning down a home cooked meal.
2. “Which toppings would you like with that?”
Making a food service worker list off all the possible toppings or menu options for you to have to tell them that you actually don’t want any of those things = the worst feeling basically ever. You know you just annoyed the crap out of them, but you don’t want or can’t have any of those toppings.
3. “Want to go check out this new restaurant with me?”
Um, only if you give me an hour’s notice to look at their online menu, Yelp reviews, and Google all of the ingredients of everything they serve. Otherwise, no thanks. Some people think this type of thing is adventurous, but it’s really just a guarantee I’ll be wasting my money on food I can’t eat.
4. “I’ll surprise you!”
No, thanks. People with dietary restrictions don’t like surprises. That should be self-explanatory.
5. “You don’t like/can’t have ____?! I would die!”
I’m not embarrassed by it either. And frankly, I don’t care what about my diet you wouldn’t be able to live with. Vegans, you hear people say this about cheese ALL. DAMN. DAY. You can’t live without cheese? Well, I can, and do. That’s why we have the freedom to consume or not consume whatever we want.
6. “You aren’t one of those annoying people, though, right?”
Usually, people say this in reference to vegetarians, vegans, and people that eat gluten free (whether or not they have Celiac disease). Obviously, no one wants to be preached at when it comes to food, but it’s not cool to assume everyone that has x dietary restriction is annoying or preachy.
7. “I’ll only put in a few ____!”
People with dietary restrictions don’t have a quota for certain foods. If you put x food into my meal, I’m going to pick it out, or avoid it altogether, and because you know I have that dietary restriction, you don’t get to be offended anymore.
8. “But what do you eat?”
This one is honestly a little sad. If your palette is so limited and your imagination so small that you can’t fathom what someone might eat if they cut out x, y, or z, I feel bad for you.
9. “Are you trying to lose weight?”
Not everyone with a dietary restriction is trying to lose weight. Take a moment to let that one sink in. Also, are you insinuating that I should lose weight? Rude.
10. “But what about ___?”
Treat it like a rule, friend. If I don’t do dairy, that includes cheese, ice cream, and ANYTHING WITH DAIRY.