Well there’s nothing quite like a good old fashioned case of food poisoning, is there? Yes, I’m here doing my thing and trudging through my day, but I would really much rather be in bed trying to block out the rest of the world. Still, I’m doing much better than I was last night. Don’t worry, I won’t go into details.
I do find it funny and kind of ironic that when someone mentions food poisoning, the first thing our minds go to is meat. Tainted ground beef, undercooked chicken, and so on. But vegetables and other vegetarian foods are just as liable to make you sick, if not more so, as meat. Peanut butter, spinach, eggs… sucks to be us, right?
The last time I got food poisoning, I could only find one thing to blame: a bag of “ready to eat” salad greens. I had eaten some at dinner the night before, but my husband and daughter didn’t, and I was the only one who got sick. I didn’t throw up once that entire time, but I couldn’t stand up straight because of the relentless, debilitating stomach cramps. To this day, I have kept my vow to never again buy — or eat — salad in a bag.
That’s not to say I’ve never gotten sick from eating meat. I remember very well a family party at a Garfield’s Restaurant and Pub when I was in grade school. The next day, everyone who had eaten the beef was confined to bed the next day, and everyone who had the chicken was fine. This was an ironic punishment because I remember choosing the beef specifically because the chicken looked scary and possibly not quite done enough for my tastes.
Then there was the Hamburger of Doom on the last day of a school trip during my senior year of high school that caused me to spend most of a 5 hour bus ride home to New Jersey from D.C. in one of those tiny little bathroom stalls, hurling my guts out. One particularly nice boy said “Stop throwing up already!” Oh, high school, I miss you so.
When I remember that particular time, I feel pretty lucky that last night and today have not been nearly as bad. Still, I haven’t figured out which food is the culprit, so I’m kind of wary of everything in my fridge right now. Not that I’m even considering eating anything for the time being, anyway.
Clacked by Cate Cropp
on Jun 24, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
