Well, Coeliac Awareness Week has been and gone for another year, and there seems to have been some really good coverage of CD in the UK press. I think awareness weeks are very important, but to be honest this year I was simply too fatigued to take part in a meaningful way. I have been working practically non-stop to get my upcoming BBQ book finished in time (if you want updates on this, please sign up here), and the thought of having to do even more awareness work filled me with dread.
You see, every day seems to be Coeliac Awareness Day for me these days. People are actually really pushy with food and they often won’t just let you say “no thanks”. People want to know why you don’t want their sandwich/cookie/whatever. So you end up having to explain all your symptoms, the pathophysiology of coeliac disease, as well as listing eveything that might contain gluten, just to satisfy them that you have a “real” reason for refusing their food. It’s great that people are curious, and I want to do my part by educating people as much as possible, but boy does it get exhausting sometimes.
This is why CollegeHumor’s contribution to Awareness Week was probably my favourite of them all, because it pretty much exemplifies every single conversation you have when you meet new people in a social situation where there’s food. The bread offerer is my personal favourite. He’s the guy who’s just listened to you explain exactly what you can’t eat then offers you a beer.
Enjoy the video and let me know your favourite articles/videos from Coeliac Awareness Week in the comments!
ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my God that video couldn’t be much more spot-on!! I used to work as part of a large team in an office and I can identify every single person in that video, I swear! There is ALWAYS someone who says ‘yeah, I think I have a problem with gluten as well. I always bloat out after I eat anything with wheat in it’…mmkay. And there really is always someone who refuses to believe it’s real and there are ALWAYS people who constantly offer things you can’t eat. It’s really insulting. One person in the office would offer me biscuits at least once a week and then check the ingredients every time I pointed out they’re made with flour and therefore not gluten free…as if I might be wrong about that!!?!? Arrghh!!
Wow, that ingredient checker person really sounds awful!
The only person they’ve missed out is the one who wants to know *exactly* what happens to you when you eat gluten… 😉