Time to Rant.

I'm having my first really serious difficulties with this diet. I'm surprised it didn't happen before now, to be fully honest, but here we are. I've been very mad for about two days. It started when I realized that I didn't bring lunch on Friday so I had to go out and get it and I was filled with this sense of dread: go to a restaurant and get a million questions and tell more about myself than I want to, or order something and then pick out what I can't eat (which is what ended up happening), or spend my entire damn lunch break in the store for something that I both want to and am able to eat. Neither is a great option, but it's where I am. I've only escalated all weekend until we went out to do a few things yesterday afternoon and I spent the whole trip home swearing because I wanted pad thai but couldn't have it without asking for ten million changes, so it was rice and vegan pesto for me AGAIN. I was really, really angry. Then I went to bed angry, anger-slept, and woke up angry. The words "this diet is not worth the bullshit and inconvenience it's causing me" escaped my lips last night.

Coincidentally (or maybe not), around this time, I also tried to reincorporate sugar. HOLY MOOD SWINGS BATMAN. I'm thinking it's a nope for that specific reason. It's probably the insulin resistance talking when I get moody after eating sugar, but regardless, I'm all set. I put a sugar packet into a black coffee last week and you know what my first reaction was, to my complete shock? "Ew." I DIDN'T LIKE IT. Also, I guess I'm a black coffee drinker now and I actually like it. I also had a sip of Rob's black cold brew the other day and it was delightful!

ANYWAY, something has been happening with alarming frequency since I went gluten free (for the most part) a few years ago, and I've been noticing it more and more as I get deeper into these changes. It's been more with being gluten free, but it's happened with other stuff too, primarily when I ask for something without egg or dairy that typically has it.

I'll order something (usually) gluten free and the person taking my order will ask, "Is this because you want to eat this way or because you have an allergy or intolerance?"

What I want to ask (but I restrain myself because it's not their fault) is, why does it matter? Why do I have to give a person my protected health information before I get what I effing ordered? Either that, or I wanted to give them the full laundry list of all of my medical shit and make them stand there and listen to it just to prove a point. I understand that they're trying to be extra careful because cross-contamination is an issue, but why not just be the same level of careful with everyone who orders something off of a menu that is gluten free?

Of course I know that the answer to that question is that it would cost an exorbitant amount of money. I get it. They have a business to run, and they can't carefully monitor stuff 100% of the time. I understand that. But there has to be a happy medium. Like, having an exclusively gluten-free toaster or something. Or, the better solution: Not letting people who can eat gluten ruin it for those of us who can't. I understand that this is a personal responsibility issue too. I also understand that the gluten-free fad is happening right now and that even if you can eat gluten, "it's healthier not to eat gluten even if you can." (Spoiler alert: It's actually not.)

PHEW. Anywho, I'm going to go delve into pinterest and see what I can find. One thing is for damn sure though - THERE WILL BE NO VEGAN PESTO AND RICE FOR ME THIS WEEK. NONE.