| I don't think that being especially concerned about living with a food-related disability at college is being too sensitive or overprotective.
In most stages of life, people can choose to buy and prepare their own food. They can drive to a supermarket and get whatever they need. They can keep foods that would harm them out of their own homes, and they can bring food with them when they need to eat away from home. If necessary, they can minimize their contact with food service establishments, which is where the hazards are often greatest.
College is different. For students living on campus, especially those in their first year, ALL meals may need to be eaten in a food service establishment, access to a supermarket and cooking facilities may be limited or nonexistent, and they may have to share a small room with another person who has the right to keep any food he or she wants in that room. In most instances, they also do not have access to a car. This would be an extremely difficult situation even for a 40-year-old. It's not babyish for an 18-year-old to consider it extremely difficult, too.
The thing of it is, orchid, that college isn't the real world when it comes to food allergies. It's WORSE than the real world. |