AIBU for eating nuts next to someone with an allergy on a plane?

[PrincessJoann]

Had a bizarre situation today. I was flying from Hawaii to Florida. The stewards were walking around giving out mixed nuts.

The woman seated next to me said to the flight attendants that she didn’t want any because she is allergic to nuts and that there should’ve been a note in their system regarding not serving her nuts.

The attendant said in the survey she’d filled out for the airline regarding injury she had not indicated that it was an airborne allergy and only checked that she couldn’t ingest nuts. She stated they still shouldn’t have served them and she shouldn’t need to be that specific.

The attendants asked her if we needed to make an emergency landing or if she required medical attention. She said no.

The woman asked me if I could not eat the mixed nuts. Everyone around us had an open plastic cup of mixed nuts. I told her I wasn’t sure how my eating them or not would help her in this situation. She said it was just a courtesy.

I told her (truthfully) I hadn’t eaten at all yet and needed to have something in my stomach to take a medication. I asked her if I could go to the back of the plane to eat the nuts then come back. She sort of rolled her eyes but said this was fine.

When I came back she was complaining to the flight attendants about me and asking to be moved, specifically using the term “that asshole.”

I feel badly that I didn’t handle the situation better. AIBU?

I think she should have communicated it better to the airline and to you as well. But regardless of this, I would not have eaten the nuts next to her. And I hope you washed your hands before sitting back.
My DS has a severe nuts allergy, also not airborne. It's easy to manage now he's small and always flies with us, but he still gets sometimes a reaction by touching contaminated surfaces and touching his eyes for instance.

What airline still gives out nuts? I haven't had nuts on a plane in years.
YANBU. It's her allergy to manage, and people with a history of serious reactions would make sure there were no nuts in an enclosed environment. You could have asked for a seat elsewhere on the plane though.

I'm surprised at some of the responses here. Surely people eating them on the row infront and behind are just as much of a threat to this lady. The whole cabin were given them. Then they'll be touching seats and doors without washing their hands.

I don't understand why mixed nuts are still given on flights? Surely with it being such a common allergy it would be better for airlines just to scrap them.

I think the fact you needed to take medication and you moved away from her while you ate them means yanbu, did you also wash your hands before you went back? If so then you took all the necessary precautions and if her allergy isn't airborne then you posed no risk to her.

Not all nut allergies are deadly. The woman should have been more emphatic before the flight, if it’s such a problem.

She can wear a mask and deal with it.

Why do they serve nuts on flights?! It’s ridiculous!

Well, OIT works well if you are allergic to one nut only, like peanut. But if you have multiple nuts allergies it's almost pointless. Also, you need to eat a certain amount of that nut regularly all your life or you go back to have your body to react to it. It's not a cure.

Lady obv didn’t think it was a huge issue or she would have said to airline no nuts on board while I fly

so the people behind /infront /Across the aisle from her all ok to eat nuts

the whole plane ok to eat nuts

but not you next door to her ………

This was my thought - how on earth does one more person make a difference in a plane full of nuts.

I would have just eaten them next to her. She said her allergy was not airborne.

I think you were more accommodating than necessary. She should fill in the information correctly if she wants other people to change their behaviour for her.

I would have eaten them slowly one by one, whilst staring at her and enjoying every crunch.

If her allergy was that bad she would have been ill from the others around her.

Sounds like the kind of person who once choked on a peanut and then dramatically goes around telling everyone she has a nut allergy.

More fool you for getting up and going to the back of the plane when there were others all around her!

Selfish beyond reason. May others show you the same consideration one day.

I just googled and found it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AITAH/comments/1k6lxgz/aitah_for_eating_nuts_next_to_someone_with_an/#:~:text=I%20was%20flying%20from%20Hawaii,regarding%20not%20serving%20her%20nuts.

I would eat a sandwich in front of someone with a gluten allergy.

It isn't an airborne allergy, she needs to get over herself.

I hope OP washed her hands to avoid transferring nut traces around the seating area.
Having eaten them, they're a sod for getting stuck in teeth, and could be transferred to the nearby area by acts like coughing.
Going to the back will have reduced the risk, but possibly not have eliminated the risks.

Hopefully she'll have learned to be clearer on the documents for next time.

I don't know why airlines give out an easily avoided, potentially nasty allergen as a snack.

she should’ve filled out the form
correctly

the airline should’ve immediately taken back all the nuts

you shouldn’t have eaten them anyway

But she said she didn't have a severe enough allergy for airborne to be a risk, and said it was OK to eat them at the back of the plane (further than others were eating them), then proceeded to call her an asshole after agreeing to it..
If it was actually an issue she would have put it on the form. Sounds like one of those kind of people who looks for a confrontation when they're in a bad mood to get their emotions out rather than being allergy related.

I just had a beautiful cup of warmed mixed nuts on a long haul Delta flight last week.

Nuts are healthy, low carb, vegan and otherwise important components of a healthy diet.

Most nut allergies aren’t deadly. Statistically there is extremely low incidence of anaphylaxis caused by airborne exposure, and even less so in adults. It’s unreasonable to expect hundreds of people to give up a food option to accommodate a single passenger.

If she was in danger, she would have told the cabin crew it was indeed airborne and had them remove the nuts from everyone.

I doubt she would have said anything if you were a man.

I think you were too polite, I would have told her to fuck off after the arsehole comment and asked to be moved.

So what?

Exactly. But people are way to ignorant to understand that.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable, so long as the passenger gives the airline the required notice.

As the OP moved to the back of the plane to eat them, I think she was being considerate, seeing as everyone else was eating nuts around her the other passengers allergy wasn't too sever.

Airlines shouldn't serve nuts anymore.

I cannot imagine why airlines still serve nuts on flights TBH, they are so problematic and there are alternative snacks.