I think a lot of Americans like to have a “special ailment” that they can use as a crutch or that makes them feel that they’re no longer just and ordinary dumb slob. “Oh I suffer from “Big Eye” therefore I’m excluded from activities that cause me to have to interact with the public at public events.” “Oh well then don’t go.” And Americans LOVE to be on maintenance drugs. Again because they want to feel like there’s something unique about themself.

Plus - There’s no clause in the Constitution stating I don’t have to be offended by everyone else. Humans are offensive and that’s all there is to it and Americans are unusually offensive (see Ugly American). I could go to a ballgame and rant about the woman next to me that has vaginal odor or the fat slob that’s drinking too much and smells of alchohol or the ever present loudmouth hurling obscenities but that’s just life with American humans. American humans are just offensive beasts and I expect that from them.

Why not just wrap your kid up in bubblewrap so no harm can come to them?

OK, I want separate seats for: very obese people, tobacco spitters, alcoholics, rednecks and hooders, terrorists, perfume pourers, republicans, cussing loud ones, pimps, ugly people, people with more than two rug rats, democrats, cigarette smokers, hookers, ticket scalpers, politicians, first responders, crooked corporate executives, crotch scratching athletes, child molesting priests, hoochie mommas…what do you mean we have run out of seats???? I think I’ll just go hiking.
Let’s just keep these kids out of schools and supermarkets too. I don’t want my prices to rise due to lawsuits against nut sellers. I want them to rise due to corruption and graft, like always! Man, you all are gonna be in trouble when cheap peanuts replace the expensive corn wasted on fuel boondoggles. GB treating you right baby! Wuss me baby wuss me up good…whine…whine…whine…

Coming right after the stories on parents whining if their kids had to play baseball with wooden bats makes me think there is no way we would defeat any country going to war against us in a few years. We are having trouble now, but with this new generation molded into weak whiners, it can only get worse. Teach your allergic kids to speak chinese. That’s who they will answer to soon. QUIT FEEDING THEM CHEMICALS doofusses…

Pat C,

I think your line of questioning is interesting, and I’ve also looked into it. I believe that some of the increase is environmental – by overprotecting the children they become very sensitive to irritants they would otherwise tolerate well. However, in the case of life threatening allergies (like peanuts), I think genetic makeup outweighs environmental influence. Why would we see an increase in the amount of genetic based allergies? Higher survival rate.

I believe that medicine and parental knowledge of rare problems have advanced to the point that children who would have otherwise died now survive and have offspring of their own. For example, the Epipen everyone keeps mentioning has only been out for just over 27 years, and the metered dose inhaler for just over 22 years. Increased survival rates for otherwise fatal disorders will increase the prevalence of those disorders in the general population.

Now before someone accuses me of being in favor of eugenics - I’m Not. In today’s world, having a good head on your shoulders is worth more than having an immune system that allows you to wallow in the mud or a digestive system that can safely consume anything slower than you. Who knows, todays peanut allergic kid could become tomorrows engineer and solve the worlds energy crisis, or a doctor that cures cancer.

When I heard this story on the news last night, my first thought was, “What a nice thing to do for these kids.” These teams didn’t have to do any of this, but they are going out of their way to provide a nice day for these families to forget about their cares for just a little while. I’m not the parent of an allergic child. Honestly, I don’t know anyone with food allergies. My children are healthy and full of life without a care in the world. I can’t imagine what it would be like if it were any different, like it is for these poor parents that have to worry that every food their child may eat could kill them. The very thing that is supposed to keep them alive could be poison. Can you imagine that for a minute? The anxiety, the fear, the unknown? Forgive me for having a moment of “wow, what a great world we live in that someone would do something so nice.” It only took a moment of reading some of your comments on this subject to snap me back to the reality of our cruel world. Thanks Ignorant People for bringing me down from my cloud. I can always count on you to say something awful and inappropriate about children.

Uh, we DO stay home. We’ve learned that it’s dangerous and WE DO STAY HOME. So maybe the Cardinals, as a private enterprise, want our business and are doing what it takes to get it? Isn’t that what free enterprise is all about? As long as we’re talking about freedoms, shouldn’t the Cardinals be “free” to control their environment to keep children safe, if that’s what they choose to do? It’s not as if the stadium is your own living room.

Listen all you haters. Until you watch your daughter nearly die innocently. Until you stand next your son helpless as his airway closes up. Until you have to stab a 1 1/2 inch 8 gauge needle from an Epipen into your child’s leg, maybe twice. Do not say this is an over reaction. I have the menus of at least 2 dozen different restaurants memorized. So I know what my 4 year old daughter can eat. She has a severe milk allergy.
When she was about 1, after I ate an ice cream sandwich I picked her up to put her in the bathtub when I set her down she had red HANDPRINTS on her back and stomach from a contact reaction. We are not talking lactose intolerance or a tummyache. We are talking deathly if ingested. Some peanut allergies are air bourne. Now common sense should tell you that if that is the case a big stadium is not a small enough enclosed area for a reaction to occur in the air. What is worth more to you a kid dying or a kid or adult(I guess I use that term loosely) not getting their peanuts. You know what your right that is a tough one!!!!

Irritable bowel syndrome. We need separate restrooms and seats from those who suffer from it. Do you know how long a bathroom line IBS causes? Wheat allergies abound. Separate seats for bread eaters who suffer I say! People depress me to the point of suicide. How about me being the only person in the stadium a night or two so I can feel normal, ie a ball watcher. It could save my life!

Way to go Jeff! I applaud you! My life revolves around never having to use that epipen…so far I’ve succeeded, but I’ve been very blessed. Any of my son’s reactions could have been much worse. And a lot of these people do not realize that reactions can change from one to the next. You never know what to expect. It’s absolutely terrifying. Until it happens to them, most people don’t get it or comprehend that this is a life and death struggle for parents of food-allergic children. I truly applaud you for standing up for your daughter! You’re a great dad!

I used to work in the genetics/medical field and it is amazing how many folks keep breeding more kids, even knowing their kids will surely suffer from painful, deadly illnesses. One set of parents sticks in my mind who had six kids when they knew each would suffer from painful, then deadly, lung ailments. Can’t do much about that mind set. Seat set asides won’t hurt anyone, but it doesn’t get to the cause of these diseases. Many parents have been told the cure, or at least how to lessen problems, but few we counseled actually changed their lifestyles enough to help their kids. We pay in insurance costs and in watching kids suffer for this hard-headedness. A lot IS chemically caused. Chemicals are cheaper than natural. People shop on price.