"I have allergies but am not allergic."

I had a conversation with a gal today and discussed allergies. What came of this conversation is that I realized most people that suffer from seasonal allergies, or environmental allergies will commonly say they are not allergic to anything. Their thinking when asked if they are allergic to anything is food allergies or insect bites etc. 


I had to sit and wonder why a common disjuncture had been created in the minds of the majority that although they have allergies that they are not allergic to anything. What is it that makes environmental allergies different from food allergies so that they cannot be collectively grouped as allergies?

The only thing that I can think of is that people categorize their seasonal allergies different from food-based allergies due to the reaction differences.

America- Equality or Prejudice

In recent conversations with numerous individuals in the recent light of state elections has brought up some interesting conversation of past events. As everyone debates for whom they should vote, they hope that these politicians will somehow change things miraculously. This is not a discussion of constitutional reform or even government revolution; this is a questioning of one particular comment that was made, “You must have voted for that white guy.” Now the general context of this comment was in discussions of Barrack Obama becoming America’s first black President. Upon the above comment being made, I just had to ask myself if the attitudes of prejudice had ever left following the Civil War.

It seems that there is still an attitude of prejudice left buried, even if just barely, in these Americans that profess equality. If everything was truly equal, and stereotypes and racisms had left, wouldn’t the titles just read, “America elects its 44^th President, Barack Obama.” This society still adamantly declares white and black. If we still identify the two candidates based on the color of their skin, aren’t we still judging their capacities by their race?

These thoughts beg the next question, “Did the candidates win or lose based on their leadership capacities, or was this a contest of black vs. white?” Perhaps this society felt a need to prove that all racism was gone by voting to have the first black American President. If this is the case, then have we really taken a step forward?

I would merely beg everyone that feels compelled to do so, to examine himself or herself. To eradicate racism is to do so at every level, in thought and action. We should not identify anyone as the white guy or the black guy. This attitude only reinforces the stereotypes of our past that we have been struggling so hard to remove for the last century and a half. Let us all make an effort to remove these thinkings.