Food allergies are not only dangerous at times, but also incredibly uncomfortable.
It’s important to have support from the people around you to keep you safe.
This man took to Reddit to share his story.
I (M, late 30s) have an allergy to fin fish that is non-deadly but serious and uncomfortable. My allergy is not in question. I have been allergic to fish since I was a toddler.
My partner (also M, also late 30s) loves fin fish. He could eat it every day if he could.
The allergy has some rare exceptions.
In some cases, I CAN apparently eat fin fish — specifically, canned tuna. I don’t know why or how. Don’t ask.
The canning process probably changes… something.
Who knows.
Everyone in the man’s life knows of his allergy.
My partner knows about my fin fish allergy and my ability to eat canned tuna. Everyone in our shared lives know about my fin fish allergy and my ability to eat canned tuna. My fin fish allergy and my ability to eat canned tuna is common knowledge and a fact of life.
A few weeks ago we eat at a restaurant that we’ve eaten at before. The server advises that one of the items which I order — which I’ve had versions of before at different restaurants — “has anchovies in it.”
Restaurants give disclaimers of potential contamination to keep their customers safe.
Some non-deadly allergy sufferers will understand here: sometimes you brush this warning off at restaurants because you know the server and the restaurant say these things merely to cover their asses so that the onus is back on you, the patron.
The man ordered his dish and was fine.
I decided to brush off the warning, as I’ve had the same dish at different restaurants before without any noticeable reaction. (Maybe my allergy to anchovies is similar to my allergy to tuna, in some way). We order the food. I eat it. It’s good. No problem.
Last week, my partner and I are at his place making a delicious tomato-based pasta sauce. I let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes and excuse myself from the kitchen to help out with some housework.
The man’s partner tainted the meal.
During this time, my partner apparently covertly emptied a whole small tin of anchovies into the sauce without telling me to test his theory that my allergy, specifically to anchovies, wasn’t real.
He only revealed this tonight over a conversation with friends.
The boyfriend revealed his secret.
VERY, VERY luckily, I did not have a noticeable reaction.
During this conversation with our friends, he took particular glee in proving how ‘my allergy was wrong’ (paraphrased). And by “glee”, I mean sing-songy voice, childish dancing around the table, and fishing out the emptied tin out of the recycling bin outside and showing it to me to prove his point.
So, he did something I did not consent to that could have resulted in an allergic reaction, however major or minor.
The man was incredibly upset.
I felt violated. I felt that he broke my trust. I felt hurt.
The boyfriend did not take accountability.
When our friends left, I told him this and his response was that “I lied to him” about my allergy when I told the server at that restaurant a few weeks ago that I had a fin fish allergy. And by doing so, I was in the wrong. Apparently I’M the bad guy, which feels like a major deflection of wrongdoing, if you ask me.
The fact that he didn’t understand that his actions hurt me and made me felt violated is bonkers to me.
He got angry at me and I left for the night.
I’m trying to make sense of all of this.
AITA in all of this?
Reddit users were loudly on the writer’s side for this one.
This person pointed out that the boyfriend went out of his way to embarrass the man in front of his friends.
Another reader called this an absolute deal breaker.
This person simplified it all and told the writer to really let it sink in.
For someone who claims to love you, this behavior is fishy.
If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.