SC - dietary restrictions

[Aldyth at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/11/00 2:37:44 PM !!!First Boot!!!, macdairi at hotmail.com 
writes:

<< Yeah, but then again, what gives you the right to impose it on us?
 I mean if you're asking for special dishes at an event, I've made
 a point to let people I know when something they don't eat is going
 by them, but if you have a special dietary concern, religious or medical (I 
 myself can't eat shellfish) then you should let the troll
 know in advance so they can tell the feast-o-crat in advance so they
 can either flag the dishes ahead of time or maybe make a smaller portion 
 (which I have done in the past) without the offending ingredient. >>

Just my two cents here, but please don't tell the troll, tell the cook.  
Before the event.  Way before the event.  And, I don't really care whether it 
is an allergy or preference.  We've talked about this before, but it is still 
important.  If the cooks don't know they can't plan.  Planning takes more 
than the night before.

Just a week ago at a fighter practice, one of the ladies volunteered to feed 
everyone rather than have us infest a local pub.  Great food, great fun 
ensued.  After the meal, one of the gentleman fencers came into the kitchen 
and asked what the chopped meat was that was in the potatoe soup.  The cook 
replied that it was ham.  The gentleman then complimented the soup and went 
back to the conversation in the other room.  He spoke with me later and said 
he was a Hasidic Jew, and that although he wasn't suppoed to eat pork, he had 
found that indeed God was a forgiving person.  :-))  Not everyone with that 
kind of restriction would have been so gracious.

Aldyth