Morning Roundup: Goodbye, Abe Edition
Vegetate to Close at the End of the Month
D.C. Police Seek Suspect in Series of Bank Robberies
Suspect in 9-Year-Old's Murder Found Dead in D.C. Jail
Wizards Owner Abe Pollin Dies at 85
Feeling like you may well die while enduring a game at Nationals Park is a shared experience for baseball fans in Washington, but one group of Nationals fans would like to present a special claim on that sense of imminent doom. For a significant sliver of the population, the vague sense of dread associated with a ballgame at the stadium has nothing to do with unforced errors and botched key plays. Rather, it's a reaction to something so essential to the sport that to consider baseball in its absence is to consider, like, cricket or something. An allergy to peanuts, clearly, is an allergy to the game itself. Peanuts are written into the game's constitution -- it's right there in the song. Nevertheless, on August 23, Nationals Park will appease peanut allergiacs with so-called "peanut-free baseball". For $30, fans may enjoy the luxury of not being forced to buy peanuts in a special party suite that will, in fact, feature no food at all, beyond what fans bring. So this could be a deal for people who are allergic to bananas, or raw foodies, or people who aren't hungry, or people who'd rather bring their own damn dogs and nachos. Sounds like a despicable recession-minded campaign to brand nothing as something, right? Could be. Alternatively: It could be a pogrom! Baseball doesn't take kindly to people who are allergic to peanuts & crackerjacks.
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feature no food at all, beyond what fans bring
So I can bring peanuts, bananas, and crackerjacks?
Kriston, you may be overreaching (and insensitive) with your use of the word "pogrom".
Sorry, a minor peeve. It's CrackerJack. Look at teh box.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crackerjack2.jpg
Anyone there allergic to filet mignon or chicken cordon bleu? Because that's what I'm bringing to the game. It's all range-free so don't even try it, PETA!
"Range-Free" Liz?
I guess that means kept in cages.
Free range is a method of farming husbandry where the animals are allowed to roam freely instead of being contained in any manner.
D'oh! My farmer husband has kept me contained in a cage long enough!
Here is the deal with Peanut Allergies:
They actually exist, and it sucks for people who are allergic to them. I have a nephew who is allergic to peanuts, and he hates it. It is not something he enjoys throwing in your face, but - alas - they are freaking everywhere.
This is going to end up being a pandemic at some point, the rate of kids with these allergies is skyrocketing. Is it GMO foods? Who knows.
Anyway, getting them off planes is one thing, there should have never been an argument about that one. Some airlines still serve them, which is mind boggling to me. Anyone who has witnessed an anaphylactic attack knows they don't want one of those on an airplane.
Baseball parks is another issue entirely. Let the people have their peanuts. Maybe people eating peanuts might just want to be a little more careful about where they throw their shells. I don't know...
I guess there is nothing wrong with letting people have a peanut free suite though, sounds pretty understandable.
The “policy of avoidance” means that fewer children are being exposed to nuts, likely increasing their risk for developing an allergy.
Outbreaks typically occur in small towns and in schools, factories, and other institutions, and they are most often prompted by fears of contamination. It does indeed provoke anxiety to imagine a hidden, deadly danger in so innocent a thing as having a snack in kindergarten. And being around others who are anxious heightens one’s own anxiety.
About 3.3 million Americans are allergic to nuts, and even more—6.9 million—are allergic to seafood. However, all told, serious allergic reactions to foods cause just 2000 hospitalisations a year (out of more than 30 million hospitalisations nationwide). And only 150 people (children and adults) die each year from all food allergies combined.
Compare that number with the 50 people who die each year from bee stings, the 100 who die from lightning strikes, and the 45,000 who die in motor vehicle collisions. Or compare it with the 10,000 hospitalisations of children each year for traumatic brain injuries acquired during sports or the 2,000 who drown or the roughly 1,300 who die from gun accidents. We do not see calls to end athletics. There are no doubt thousands of parents who rid their cupboards of peanut butter but not of guns. And more children assuredly die walking or being driven to school each year than die from nut allergies.