NBC did not respond to a request for comment.
Mandelbaum’s posts on the joke, featuring a photo of her son holding a sign that says, “My food allergy is NOT funny,” have racked up more than 300 comments across her social channels. In it, she writes, “I’ve seen my child’s life almost slip away after a peanut exposure. I’ve given epinephrine while my hands shook. I’ve begged strangers for compassion in places where help was far away. This isn’t a joke. It never was.”
As one commenter on the SNL post points out, “Allergies are not a choice, and the fear when you’re at 35000 ft on a plane when you have an allergy is real! The more that anaphylaxis is made out to be humorous the more dangerous it is …More compassion is needed!”
Symptoms may include itching, swelling of the lips or throat, shortness of breath, dizziness, or stomach pain, and can lead to death if not treated promptly with an injection of epinephrine (typically through an Epi-Pen). Further treatment may also be necessary.
At least one commenter on Mandelbaum’s Facebook post—a mom of kids with serious allergies—could take the joke, and felt it was important to be able to laugh at the situation.
But, notes Mandelbaum, “This isn’t about being simply offended. It’s about speaking up when repeated jokes normalize ignorance that can cost lives. If your lived experience with allergies is different, that’s valid—but it doesn’t negate the very real danger others face every day.”
Jokes like SNL’s, maintains Mandelbaum, do not help.
“People have been incredibly kind to my son and looked after him, but other people are just not as fortunate,” she says, “and we have to stick up for everybody… This is a real-life disability.”
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