Speaking of celiacs, we not too long ago had dinner with another couple that is half-and-half. I mentioned to the husband – a fellow imbiber of gluten – that I was thinking of starting a support group for Spouses of Celiacs. We not only sacrifice in support of our spouses – steering clear of doughnut shops, for instance – but we suffer the indignities of the perennially overlooked. In restaurants, Hania and the server will enter into a long and detailed conversation – often interrupted by a trip to the kitchen and a consultation with the chef – while I sit quietly looking at my phone. Sometimes the server, having spent so much time at our table, assumes his work is done there and blithely heads off without taking my order. This is extremely frustrating; I get enough inattention from editors; I don’t need waiters adding to my feeling of invisibility.
The husband liked my idea. “And,” he said, “we’ll have our meetings in a Chinese restaurant.”
(Celiacs tend to avoid Chinese food because of soy sauce, which contains wheat. I thought it was a brilliant suggestion.)
