Pelted with peanuts… with friends like these, hey?

So, the new Peter Rabbit film brought back some bad memories. You might know that the movie has come under fire for a scene where Peter and his friends throw blackberries at someone who has a severe allergy.

You see, a similar thing happened to me. Not with rabbits, I should add.

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When I was about 21 (god, that’s 10 years ago now), I moved to a new city for a job. It was both wonderfully exciting, but also extremely nerve-wracking. I didn’t know anyone, had never worked in the particular industry before and was therefore desperate to please and eager to learn.

My new colleagues were a guy who was five years older than me, and my new manager, who was in her early thirties. Both were nice and it seemed like we would get along, although they had both worked together before so already had a close relationship.

During the first week I was incredibly shy as I didn’t know what I was doing or even really how to do it. But I quickly ingratiated myself and the banter started flowing. Although I certainly ended up as the butt of a lot of jokes from my colleagues due to my naivety and eagerness to please. Anyone who knows me, will know this isn’t a problem. I’m a huge fan of self-deprecating humour and it really takes a lot to offend me.

However, one morning one of my new colleagues opened a packet of peanuts. At this point, I asked if the peanuts could be removed from the office as I had an allergy to them. I was just about to whip out my EpiPen as proof to show how serious it was, when all of a sudden the older lad took the peanut he was about to eat and threw it in my direction. Laughing, my new manager then picked up another one and also threw it. Before I knew what was happening, I was backing out of the office desperately trying to avoid being hit with a flying nut. I eventually resorted to going outside and down the fire escape. I had to roll myself a cigarette to calm my nerves (fair enough those things will kill me, but at a slower rate).

This was an absolutely terrifying experience for me. I was torn between not having a severe allergic reaction and keeping the approval of my colleagues. It had taken me the best part of three months to get that job and I felt like if I made a stand and got angry, it may have meant me having to quit or made my position untenable.

With hindsight, I think there is loads I would have done differently. I also can’t blame them too much because, as the peanuts started to fly, I remember my initial reaction was nervous laughter. I certainly didn’t make them as aware of the seriousness as I should have done.

Anyway, following my cigarette break, I went back into the office and calmly informed my co-workers that there was no way I could sit at my desk until it had been cleaned because of how severe my nut allergy was. I also finally produced my EpiPen and at that point they certainly took me seriously and apologised. They also cleaned and vacuumed around my desk.

This experience, although it terrified me, did teach me a lot. Their behaviour did not come from a place of malice, simply a lack of understanding about how severe allergies can be. It may seem ridiculous to most people reading this blog, as I imagine the reason you read this is because you have already experienced an allergy or know someone who has one. But not everyone is in that boat. That’s why it’s so important that the whole free-from community continues the work it is doing. The more we educate, the less we will hear stories like this one.

I have purposefully kept names and locations out of this blog to protect the identity of the people I’m referring to. I’m still good friends with both of them and do not wish to publicly shame them. Both of these people have profusely apologised to me about the incident on more than one occasion and we ended up working together for many years.

They definitely received an education that day and were made more aware of how it felt and what it meant to have a severe allergy. I’m just glad it didn’t end up with a trip to the hospital or worse. That’s the type of fast learning that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

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