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" Apologies for the poor quality of this photo \u2014 my iPhone doesn&amp;#039;t really do this little laminated beauty justice. It&amp;#039;s a wallet-sized allergy card my mom handmade made for me, listing all the delicious (or so I hear) things I am allergic to, along with safe food handling and preparation techniques.  This card is my constant travel companion, and really comes in handy for restaurant dining. When I order, I explain my allergy, and present this card to the server. The server then hopefully takes it back to the kitchen to check if the item I want is safe, or if there can be modifications and substitutions. (&amp;quot;Hold the butter, Paula Deen! Rachael Ray, I need some EVOO!&amp;quot;) It might seem a little Type A, but trust me, it&amp;#039;s precisely when you get a little too relaxed with these things that emergencies happen. In an ideal world, I would always have the time and foresight to call ahead and speak to the chef to discuss my special requests. And if I have long-standing reservations, I generally do. However, living in a city where dinner plans often happen spontaneously after work makes this a useful prop.  Just last weekend, my mom decided on the spur of the moment to visit me, so I took her to a nice neighborhood restaurant known for its burgers. After the waitress took my order and my card to the kitchen, the chef came out and wanted to double-check certain ingredients with me. &amp;quot;This is the first time I&amp;#039;ve seen anyone come in with a card,&amp;quot; he said, sounding both a little scared and a little impressed. &amp;quot;Normally when people say &amp;#039;I&amp;#039;m allergic to onions,&amp;#039; it&amp;#039;s just because they don&amp;#039;t like onions.&amp;quot; [Ed. note: This will probably be the topic of another post (or rant), but that little practice is so detrimental to people like me with real health risks.] The server and the chef were both courteous and careful, making sure everything was okay after the food came out. I always appreciate being accommodated, so when I have a good, safe experience, I try to tip even more generously than usual. I don&amp;#039;t asphyxiate and you get a big tip? Win-win, I say, people! But wait, there&amp;#039;s more! The allergy card is also useful when traveling abroad! Before my mom and I took a vacation to Italy many years ago, we did our best to translate the card into Italian. Of course, using Babelfish and some English/Italian dictionaries, I&amp;#039;m sure the result was laughably bad, but even if the syntax was off, everyone understood the sentiment. I&amp;#039;ve noticed recently that there have been whole businesses springing up around this need. SelectWisely has picture cards and translations in many languages for food allergies, along with other potentially life-threatening conditions like diabetes and asthma. And if you know an allergy sufferer who never goes anywhere without his or her iPhone, Eat Safe is another option. The application has flashcard-like illustrations of common allergens in circles with slashes through them. A simple execution, maybe, but when you need to get the point across, it could be effective.  My boyfriend is an iPhone developer, so perhaps I&amp;#039;ll get him to work on a custom allergy app for me, so both of my &amp;quot;cards&amp;quot; will be handmade. How do you explain your allergies when you go out to eat? Do you have a card or something else to help illustrate it? And how do you manage if you travel abroad? "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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