Eating at Work

The building I work in has a nice big lunch room with a full-sized fridge, lots of counter space and microwaves, etc.  We have community dishes and silverware.  But lately there have been no forks, so I brought my own.  I already have my own bowl since I was on a soup kick for a while last summer, and I hide both in a bottom cabinet in a plastic grocery bag.  

So yesterday I went to eat my tuna salad and my fork was gone!  I panicked, then noticed it was in the community silverware holder.  The one with all the yucky crumbs at the bottom.  I’m sure I probably put it there by mistake after washing it, just out of habit.  I pulled it out and it was covered with these dried pink blobs.  At first I was stumped and then I remembered.  OMG cake!  The cake with the cherry frosting that was on the table the day before.  Someone used my fork to eat cake.  The horror!!  I turned the water on scalding hot and scrubbed and scrubbed.  But there were a few crumbs stuck between the tines.  I thought maybe if they didn’t come off in the scrubbing that I’d be fine.  But 11 hours later I got really tired and had to go to bed early (I ate an early lunch…I kinda do a brunch since I usually have to skip breakfast.)  I thought maybe it was the Tai Chi I did earlier, but no…as soon as I went to bed the seizing and paralysis started in.  All I could do was try to fall asleep.  I’m switching to disposable forks from now on.  

I’ve never encountered this problem before because most of the foods I’m sensitive to are easy to see and avoid.  But man, gluten is so pervasive and insidious!  Argh.