<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
>The world should not expect us to just quietly watch out for ourselves,
>carry foods to meetings and restaurants-or stay home and cook from
>scratch or depend upon mail order- and lead a quiet, obiesant existence.
>Don't have your kids apologetic for being different. Different from whom?
>Let them complain that foods served in public should be o.k. for celiacs.
>Celiac foods can be eaten by the general public. Most school menus cannot
>be tolerated by Celiacs. Those foods can contribute towards Cancer and
>peripheral neuropathy. Make the public aware!
>
>If we eat right, we can, probably or possibly, be healthier than most
>people. We have to stop acting like 'freaks" and stand up for ourselves.
>Maybe the world won't wear ribbons in recogniton,but, we are due some
>respect and recognition. Let's change "reality'-not accept it with bowed
>head and hands folded! Celiacs are not inferior beings.
 
No, Celiacs are not inferior beings, but we have a disease and should never
expect the rest of the world to cater to us and deprive themselves or
increase the cost of their food because we are the ones who are sick.  This
is the type of thinking that seems to our society today, ie, "It's not my
fault, so let them take care of me."
 
I am certainly not a freak, but I would rather starve than have some other
individual deprive himself of a wonderful meal with gluten (which is BTW
pretty wonderful stuff) just because I have a diseased body.
 
I never bow my head in shame, but if the meal ain't right, I don't eat.  If
every restaurant, airline, or other institutional vendor had to cater to us,
food costs would increase dramatically.  It's my problem, and I deal with
it.  You should consider doing the same.
--
 
Cliff Kotchka
Riverside, Illinois
 
--