Caw, Caw

A live broadcast captured the moment a cat jumped on an imam, who was leading a nightly Ramadan prayer in Bordj Bou Arreridj, Algeria.

Some people are legitimately allergic to thd proteins in certain meats and can’t even eat anything cooked in the same pan as X meat product/s.

As an epidemiologist I can list a few of the more annoying longer explanations that no one wants to have to explain to every person who ever offers them food:

- You drank water contaminated with giardia, which gave you 3 weeks of diarrhea followed by 3 years of lactose intolerance

- You were bitten by a Lone Star Tick and developed an allergy to beef and pork because the Lone Star Tick is a bastard

- You are Jewish and the meat isn’t kosher, but you don’t want to say that because antisemitism is A Thing and you don’t want to get bombarded with questions about the Middle East while you’re hungry

- You are Muslim and the meat isn’t halal, but you don’t want to say that because Islamophobia is A Thing and you don’t want to get bombarded with questions about the Middle East while you’re hungry

- You are on a restricted diet for medical reasons and don’t want to get bombarded with questions about your medical history while you’re hungry

- You are on a restricted diet for reasons that *are nobody’s business* and don’t want to get pulled into Potentially Triggering Diet Talk while you’re hungry.

Do not feed anyone anything you don’t want to have to answer for in court.

They may be ordering soy milk because they feel fancy about it.

Our they may order it because if you give them regular milk, they might die there and then and you killed them. Whether you intended that to be the outcome or not it’s irrelevant.

They may order gluten free because it’s so trendy.

Or they may do it because eating gluten means huge pain and, if repeated, irreversible damage to their internal organs.

They may be ordering meat-free because it makes them feel superior.

Or they might have some trauma related to eating meat that could lead to them gagging or even throwing up trying to eat meat, not to mention potentially giving them mental problems.

And for all these cases there are in-betweens.

I drink regular milk with no trouble whatsoever but I do like some of the plant-based alternatives as well. It’s variety.

However, whatever scenario we talk about, violating someone’s trust and consent is bound to make their day worse and you should not do that under any circumstances.

I had made friends with a big group of expat English teachers. And several were rabid vegans. I would mention when we went out to eat that I could not have soy as I was allergic. This was of course met with scoffs, because “no one’s allergic to soy!” Fun fact, it’s one of the major food allergens.

One day, a friend’s band was playing at a vegan place, and I was there with some friends. We were doing a group order, and I told them just to not order me anything with soy, but I had to run to the toilet. I came back and the food came. My friends asked me how it was, and I said it was good. The looked smug, and said, we knew you’d like tofu if you just had it right! I was so upset. I had to stop eating everything, and not 30 minutes later, I am back in the toilet sick as anything. My friends couldn’t understand why I was so sick. I finally said,“ Would you feed someone peanuts if they had a peanut allergy?” No, of course not! “Then why,” I asked, “did you think it was ok to trick me into eating soy when it makes me sick?” I told them I couldn’t trust them anymore, and now I was going to miss a friend playing in his band. I apologized to my friend, explained what happened, and said I’d catch their next performance. I was sick for two days.

Martin Gregus captured a once in a lifetime moment of a Polar Bear sleeping on a bed of fireweed.