The Peanut Conspiracy

The peanut. Small crunchy, packed with protein. Yuum! Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, peanut butter and crackers, peanut butter pie, peanut butter cookies, celery sticks with peanut butter, peanut butter and apples, pancakes with peanut butter- so many wonderful creations from a jar of peanut butter. Yum! Yum! Yum! Imagine my surprise when my daughter came home with a note from school announcing the horrors of peanuts. Peanuts and peanut products have been banned from her school. Think about that. Do you have any idea what that entails? If not, here is condensed list of what needs to be eliminated from the diet. http://kidshealth.org/parent/misc/nutallergy_cutout.html
No PB&J, no granola bars, no PB cookies- all of which are lunchtime favorites for kids and have been for generations. There are 848 kids enrolled at her school, 3 that have a peanut allergy. What about kids with latex allergies? No pens in schools! Dairy allergies? No milk at lunch time! Bee allergy? How about a giant bubble over the playgrounds to keep out those pesky stingers? I think this should get lumped in with the same idiots that are taking the Pledge of Allegiance (or yes, even prayer) out of schools. Isn't our country founded on the principles of democracy? To me, this would mean majority rules. We shouldn't have to cater to the needs of 3 out of 848 kids! I'm sorry but if little Susie goes to a party of 30 people, I hope little Susie's mother doesn't expect to be coddled. I would hope that little Susie's mother was vigilant in educating her child in what she can and cannot do. Ooops! I just implied that the child's parent should be responsible for the child! Oh my! That was a major faux pas in today's society. Today people want the government to be responsible or take care of their problems, or in this case it would be the DOE. I should probably contain myself though, those peanut haters might decide to include me in some multi-million dollar frivolous lawsuit.
Look- I am not a complete ogre. If you want to set up a table in the cafeteria that is peanut free...be my guest. I am not an uneducated moron either. I know how reactions occur and the risks involved. It would probably be a good idea to have an epi pen in case some type of emergency situation does happen. Haven't kids with bee allergies been doing this for years? The idea that a school can police the lunches and snacks of all students, faculty and staff for any products containing peanuts infuriates me. What is the problem?? What did the peanut do?
In a show of support for the peanut, I have chosen to buy all bags of candy containing peanuts that I can find. I will open my door on Halloween to the chorus of "trick-or-treat" and I will proudly give out handfuls of those delicious, peanut containing candies.