海鮮豆腐煲

Do I miss some foods I can't eat anymore without getting sick? Sure, but that's not what really bothers me. What bothers me is being excluded from a huge portion of human social life of which food is a crucial component. What bothers me is the stress and social stigma of trying to figure out what I can safely eat. What bothers me is the amount of extra work and cost that is required of me to identify, obtain, and prepare safe foods. What bothers me is people treating my needs like a nuisance, as though I chose to be like this - as though their brief inconvenience to check an ingredients list is unreasonable, when I deal with this every day of my life forever.

I don't miss the food that much. I miss not having to worry about what I eat. I miss freedom. I miss when trying new foods and new restaurants was fun instead of a minefield. I miss not having to plan my entire life around the need for safe foods.

Cloud Strife

But some other things I've seen:

a switch to ephemeral communication - texting/chat instead of email, messages instead of asks, discord instead of blogging (kind of reason 6, but broader)

age segmentation and increasing discomfort with talking to older/younger people, which limits options for mentorship, community, and passing on of culture (a reason for reasons 1 and 2)

the loss of seasonal TV shows, which allowed fandoms to build on a longterm, regular schedule, with everyone watching at the same time and then discussing it over the next week. The netflix model is a VERY different experience! (These shows often acted as social connectors even if people were primarily in non-TV fandoms!)