Okay, I love your stuff about roger being lactose intolerant. I laughed so hard! But I also like the idea of him having a dairy allergy. As someone with food allergies, I think it would be pretty interesting to see. Do you think you could write something for me?
With all the knowledge we have today, dairy allergies are still one of the most difficult things to get a grip on. People are still dying in the year 2019 because kitchen staff don’t take food allergies, especially dairy allergies (since people think it means the same as intolerant) seriously.
Could you imagine in the 70′s? 80′s?
Eating out isn’t an option.
Buying ready made foods and snacks aren’t options.
Everything Roger eats has to be made by him or his mum. That’s it. The end. Period. He’s had one too many close calls as a kid and he doesn’t want to take any more chances. More so now that he lives in the city (he’d die in traffic on the way to hospital) and travels a lot.
Which means Roger is quite skinny because eating is hard when you can’t have much since milk substitutes are rare and expensive. And you can’t eat what you haven’t packed for the day.
When Freddie joins the gang, he learns about how Indians love their coconut milk and oh god, is that a life saver. Jer makes hers by hand and is always giving jugs full for Freddie to give to Roger.
Avoiding dairy in food is one thing. Avoiding it in nonfood products is pure BS.
Some shampoos have dairy. Roger only found out when his scalp and face got hives.
Gum too. That was a fun trip to the ER.
And vitamins. The things he has to take because of how little he can eat. That trip felt like God was mocking him.
Kissing people who recently ate dairy.
After sipping some milk and tea, Freddie gives Roger a big kiss to the cheek, which practically balloons before their eyes.
So now, whenever he makes out with anyone, he has to ask them what they recently ate. Because nothing is sexier and makes the mood then listing your lunch.
Luckily, with time, things become easier. Dairy allergies are accommodated more. There’s milk replacements and non-dairy foods like cheese. Epipens are more accessible too so Roger can ease up a tiny bit. Food items list all their ingredients now which means he can eat SO MUCH MORE. ESPECIALLY JUNK FOOD.
The only thing he refuses to do is eat out. To this day he can’t trust the kitchen staff to use new utensils and pots to cook things. He’s heard all the horror stories and prefers a home cooked meal.
Or a meal by Jer when she was still with us. Even after Freddie passed, she’d make Roger so many meals with her killer coconut milk.
At least she shared her recipes with him! Although he now prefers soy milk for his tea and cereal, he knows how to make a killer coconut chicken curry.