Companies with a Conscience - Opa Greek Restaruant

Hello!

As promised this is my second post for Companies with a Conscience!

This bi-weekly post is to encourage positivity online and highlight restaurants that are doing good for the community.

For the weeks of 11/1/2015-11/15/2015 I am highlighting Opa Greek Restaurant!

I have chosen to highlight them due to their knowledge and ability to cater to the allergic community. I recently placed an order and when I asked my normal questions about latex gloves, possible allergens and my safety, I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of knowledge the staff had. For the first time in a long time, while trying to receive answers pertaining to my allergies, I wasn't made to feel like I was burdening anyone.  I had an extensive conversation with them about my allergies and am so impressed with how allergy friendly they are. I would encourage everyone to visit Opa Greek Restaurant!

Opa Greek Restaurant
260 Islip Ave
Islip, NY 11751
631-650-0620
www.OpaGreekRest.com
Instagram: @OPSOFISLIP

Congratulations Opa Greek Restaurant for being a Company with a Conscience!

*If you would like to submit a "Company with a Conscience" for upcoming posts, please use this link Companies with a Conscience Submission Form *

Nut Free Flying: Jet Blue

I wanted to retract my statement about JetBlue Airways​ being a good airline for traveling nut free. While Flying on August 19, I saw the below package of cookies, and assumed they provided nut free flights. In my excitement, I didn't do my research, and provided false information.

Thank you to @jetblue for keeping people like me safe on their flights! #JetBlue #nutfree #skeeter

A photo posted by Leanne Pinard (@leannepinard) on Aug 20, 2015 at 5:08am PDT

Although they offer nut free foods (like above), they also offer tree nut products that I did not notice my first flight there. My interaction with Jet Blue also caused me to believe they were completely nut free.

Jet Blue Website According to their website, they also offer bars with nuts (Kind Bar, Cranberry and Almonds), and they offer roasted cashews. According to the Jet Blue Nut Policy, although they do not serve peanuts, they cannot guarantee a peanut free flight. Passengers may bring peanuts and eat them on the flight. You can inform flight crew that you have an allergy, and they create a buffer zone of a few rows around you asking people not to open any peanut products they may have.

Sure, this is great in theory if you do not have an air born allergy because honestly, being stuck on a plane with zero airflow that spans only 25 rows will not keep you safe if someone 4 rows ahead of you is eating peanuts. On my flight experience while leaving the plane, as I was walking up from row 19 where I was seated, there were peanuts scattered on the floor at about row 8. Please tell me how I was kept safe while walking through a row of peanuts, because I wasn't. I understand it is difficult to keep planes completely nut free but when you have an air born allergy, even walking through the mess of peanuts can cause a reaction.

I am challenging Jet Blue to take a look at their peanut/tree nut policy in order to make flights safer for all passengers. This includes providing educational materials for their passengers so they can better understand the severity of allergic reactions and why it is important that they keep products with nuts off of the plane and out of the air. A way to do this is to have a sign stating "we are nut free, if you have any nut products with you please do not eat them on board"

I hope Jet Blue accepts my challenge and becomes dedicated to keeping people safe while on board their flights.

Education...the Key to Saving Lives

So, I have been doing quite a bit of eating out recently, and have had some interesting experiences that I wanted to share.  By now, we all know my devotion to food and latex allergy awareness, and how important it is for someone with allergies to share with their food server and the establishment that they have an allergy.  If I didn't check the gloves that restaurants used I would just always be in the hospital.

**Disclaimer: These are my experiences with the restaurants at my time of service, I do not know current policies or changes in gloves.  If you have a latex allergy or sensitivity, I would suggest you check each time you go to a food service establishment before eating there, in case there are any changes**

There are a couple of restaurants that I would like to discuss here today, Medieval Times (Lyndhurst, NJ), Houlihan's (Bridgewater, NJ) and then a hotel located on Long Island.

Let’s start with Medieval Times, this is a HUGE chain with locations everywhere, hundreds of people per show, certainly not concerned with one individual...WRONG.  My experience at Medieval Times was rocky to start, but the initiative that was taken by the manager changed my experience completely.  I first sat down, and immediately asked my waitress if I could see the box of gloves because I have a latex allergy.  She seemed to know what she was talking about and said "oh I'm sorry they are latex! Are you allergic? I will bring you anything pre-packaged that I can so you can still eat!" Obviously, this was a very accommodating environment as she was willing to do extra work so that I could still enjoy my time; but from her information, they used latex gloves and I just accepted that.  A couple minutes later the manager walked over with a box of gloves and said, "You have a latex allergy? I just wanted to let you know that there is no latex in our kitchen, and I wanted to bring you the box to show you."  I was so impressed with his professionalism and care in regard to allergies. This manager made my experience very enjoyable and made me feel safe because of how concerned he was.  According to Medieval Times main hotline, they are each individually owned and operated so there is no corporate latex-free policy.  (I reached out to the castle to find the manager’s name so that he may get the proper credit, so as soon as I hear back, I will post it here with the proper thank you!)

Houlihan's was also a mixed experience, I had called ahead to find out what kind of gloves they used, the hostess who answered the phone told me they used latex, when I asked her if she could read the box to make sure, she seemed very annoyed but did it anyway. She came back to the phone and told me that they used vinyl and then hung up on me.  I was naturally upset with her lack of understanding, but went to eat there anyway.  When I got there, I asked the waiter to see the box of gloves, and was greeted by the manager shortly after, who had the box and seemed knowledgeable on allergies and the risks involved.  I told her about my experience on the phone, and she was very apologetic and compensated us with an appetizer. From then, everyone was nice and understanding of allergies so I felt comfortable enough to go a second time. The second time I went, our waitress was fantastic! She asked as soon as we got to the table if there were any allergies she should be aware of so she could tell the kitchen and I rattled them off to her.  I was impressed that she asked at all, because it’s very rare that waiters and waitresses ask, let alone are aware of it.  We spoke briefly and she shared with me her concern for those of us with allergies, even though she does not have one herself.  Because of the kindness shown by employees of Houlihan's in Bridgewater, I feel very comfortable eating there and feel like it is a safe environment.

I had a negative experience at a hotel, and I rather not share the name but I wanted to explain why it is so important to continue to be an advocate for your allergies, so those who don't have an understanding of what we go through every day can learn a little bit more. I had asked the waitress what kind of gloves they use in the kitchen (which as you can tell, I ask everywhere I go) and she immediately said "latex", naturally, because of my experience, I asked her if she could go check the box, her response... "Seriously?!" with the biggest attitude I have ever had a waitress respond to me with.  (The gloves were in fact not latex).  We will all have experiences like I just explained, but it is important to not let people who are just unaware affect how you feel.  For a brief moment, I actually felt embarrassed to have asked, like I did something wrong. It wasn't until this moment that I realized how I was letting her control how I was feeling.  I was giving this random waitress the power to make me feel ashamed.

I quickly escaped this mind set, but was reminded of an important lesson.  Even with an allergy, you should let that empower you, not limit you.  Through education we can come together and encourage one another to be advocates.  There will always be bullies in life, there will always be people who will try to bring you down, but it is up to you to educate those people and stand up for yourself, and the millions of us who suffer from allergies.  Eight years ago I made the decision to be my own advocate and demanded to be heard about the severity of these allergies.  We can change the lives of many, make a difference, and we can all help the cause. 

Thank you for helping change the way of looking at allergies, and for helping spread awareness regarding severe allergic reactions! Education is key to saving lives!

-Leanne