On Intolerance

I hate intolerance! No, not gay bashing (though I hate that and think such behavior is reprehensible), nor most other varieties of social intolerance. I'm talking medical intolerance. I have a condition, and frankly, not a particularly bad case of this condition. Apparently, my body fails to produce (or underproduces) the enzyme lactase. It causes me to become flatulent after I consume milk. Before I realized the cause, I'd consume larger amount than I do today, with considerably more severe effects - diharrea and cramping.

This morning, I stopped into a Starbucks, and ordered myself a tall latte with soymilk. For a small premium (I think 50 cents), people around me may have been offended by my other characteristics, but not by aromatics emanating from my hind parts. The latte tasted a bit different, perhaps a bit sweeter and more vanilla-y (you tell me how to spell that one), but it was good. I think I can chalk this little experiment up as a success. Now, I wonder if I can similarly avoid this problem with Lactaid and wonder if it would be budgetarily more advantageous. More experiments to come! Ain't science wonderful!

Note to readers: In writing this, I was having difficulty spelling diarrhea. I tried to look it up in my favorite online dictionary, but got stymied, even though they have a "browse words near" function - my spelling was pretty far off! I then had the bright idea of looking up Imodium (which I misspelled)(by the way, that link will currently - Dec 2005 - let you save a dollar on "New Imodium Liquid"). Google was gracious enough to offer me a suggested alternative spelling. So, thank you Google, Imodium and Merriam-Webster for helping to keep quality of my writing at a passable level.