Joel Stein of the L.A. Times Insults Parents of Allergic Children
Some reporters just don’t get it. Joel Stein is on that list. On Jan. 9th he posted a commentary at the L.A. Times that would make any parent of a child with allergies skin crawl. Perhaps he was trying to be funny.
It unnerves me that people with media power would abuse it such a reckless way. Folks may read Joel Stein’s piece and think it is perfectly okay to feed your child with allergies the forbidden food because the child’s problem is not his digestive system but a ‘yuppie rich phenomena” that his parents have bought into.
And he isn’t shy about his theories:
I first had this thought seven years ago, when I wrote a short story that very few people read because, unlike most people, I was kind enough not to show it to anyone. In one pointless digression, I described a future allergy epidemic in which not only nuts but malt, guar gum, gluten and corn cause kids to blow up like balloons in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. It subsides only after the FDA declares the allergies entirely psychosomatic.
The article is here for anyone that wants to read it. I have to warn you, please remove any sharp objects in your vicinity first.
Nut Allergies: A Yuppie Invention
And do send him an email as well if you wish:
I have already personally responded to him by email because the comment thread has closed on his online article. I encourage others to do the same.
