Monday 8 June 2009

A Spanking That Wasn't...

But maybe would have been in different circumstances?

The situation was something like this: I have developed an allergy to strawberries over the past couple of years, and unfortunately it's a respiratory allergy, i.e. if I eat (or sometimes even smell) strawberries, I have an asthma attack. Which is a pain, because I like strawberries. Also, because it's a fairly new thing, I sometimes forget, or fail to realise that I'm eating something with strawberries in it. (This story makes me sound quite stupid, which is fair in this case.)

So, I was away for the weekend with various vanilla friends, and I was the first one up in the morning. I went to the kitchen, heated up a croissant and proceeded to put strawberry jam on it. I hadn't quite put two and two together and realised that strawberry jam may well contain strawberries... (I know, I know...) As I was having a nice little wheezy/coughy fit, one of my friends came into the kitchen. He's about 10 years older than me, has quite a, well, dominant personality, and as far as I know is completely vanilla. He is also a well qualified first aider with quite a lot of experience of food allergies. He asked what was wrong, and once I'd taken my inhaler and was OK again, I explained. He berated me a little bit for being so idiotic, and breakfast carried on.



Which should have been the end of the story, right?

Um, wrong...



Later that day we were all out having a pub lunch, and dessert appeared on the table. Each dessert was garnished with a strawberry. Now I have this thing where I worry that I've just somehow convinced myself that I'm allergic when I'm not really. So I sometimes eat a strawberry just to see what happens. (Given that the smell can bring on an attack, I don't know why I have doubts, but hey.)

Unsurprisingly, the inevitable happened. I started wheezing and had to grab my inhaler to relieve myself. At which point the friend looked over and asked what was wrong.

The person sitting next to me said, rolling their eyes, "She was just checking she's still allergic to strawberries..."

"She WHAT?!" exclaimed first aider friend.

I was then treated to a long lecture about the seriousness of respiratory allergies, about how they did not always escalate gradually, how you could have a mild reaction one time and a very serious reaction the next, etc. etc, about how damn stupid it was to "test to see if I was still allergic" when I know perfectly well that I am, blah blah blah.

In all fairness, it was a good lecture, and it did give me pause for thought: I am more careful now, and try and think before acting. But I do wonder quite what would have transpired in similar circumstances but with different friends, or if the friend lecturing were a spanker.

I can quite picture the scene, once we got back to the holiday cottages, being led into one of the bedrooms for a rather more "impactful" lesson on the stupidity of knowingly endangering ones health.

Have you ever had one of those moments when you think... "if the dynamic here was just a little bit different, I wonder exactly what would be happening right now...?"

8 comments:

EmmaJane said...

My problem is trying not to have those thoughts. Like in a meeting at work when something's gone wrong and my manager is giving out.

Totally freaks me out for a random spanking scenario to float into my head!

EmmaJane said...

Although in my boxing class when the trainer is yelling at us to try harder and gives us extra push ups for not pushing ourselves, I can totally see a spanking dynamic there!

Hermione said...

Eliane - the next allergic reaction could quite possibly kill you. I think you've proven to yourself you are allergic!

Get a bracelet (like Medic-Alert) that identifies your condition, and ALWAYS carry your inhaler. Maybe you should also have an epi-pen. Ask your doctor.

And write "I am allergic to strawberries" in permanent marker on your hand, so you don't "forget".

Hugs,
Hermione

Kami Robertson said...

Would you really like and accept if that guy was a spanker and wanted to spank you? (That's a serious question out of curiosity)

Casey Morgan said...

I definitely find myself preoccupied with "almost" dynamics sometimes.

Now, I continue the story thus: First Aid Friend turns out to be allergy doctor. Pressures you into diagnostics & then a course of allergy shots (3x/week - I know, I had 'em!). Shots, in your case, not to be administered in arm, but elsewhere, after a spanking if there's any backchat. You always have to wait 20 minutes to see if there's a reaction and show the nurse the injection site. ha ha ha!

srsly, tho', visit to a good allergy dr. might revolutionize things for you, health-wise.

Eliane said...

EmmaJane - yup, it can be a bit freaky.
Hermione - yes, I know, I should go to the doctor! And write "I am allergic" on my hand.
Kami - In that particular situation, no it would have just freaked me out. He's been a friend for far too long to that to be anything other than TOTALLY weird!
Casey - woah, woman, you're evil ;-)

K said...

If it makes you feel better, I totally understand. I did the same thing when I first became allergic to mangoes. I started to suspect, then had to test the theory a few times because I might have been denying myself a thoroughly enjoyable fruit for a coincidence. The last time I ate one, the rash was bad enough to earn me a shot in the behind. I haven't gone near a mango since.

Although, I did rip out a patch of poison ivy this week, even after reading that it has the same allergen as mangoes. I was really careful, but still ended up with three itchy bubbly spots that will probably drive me insane for the next couple weeks. Not the smartest thing I've ever done.

Caroline Grey said...

I've been doing this with walnuts for years. Last time (it was accidental) I got huge hives and in scared me into never experimenting again!