I received a complimentary copy of the new magazine ?Allergic Living? last week, owing in no small part to my membership in medic-alert I?m sure. I have never before thought I belonged to a health related sub-culture strong enough to warrant a monthly publication. And while the magazine is without a doubt hilarious (unintentionally ? but perhaps that?s just me being a cynical, disaffected young man), in all its allergy glory, something about it really irks me.

Actually, something about the word ?allergic? has always irked me. I have always tried to maintain the stance that I am not ?allergic? but that I ?have allergies?. The simple phrase ?are you allergic?? sends me into paroxysms of irritation.

What really gets me, and this is only a recent revelation, is the assertion that ?allergic? is something that I am, or that one could be. That ?allergic? is a label that can define me as would words like ?Canadian?, ?brilliant?, ?sexy? and ?short? drives me mental. I, and let me state this clearly, am not defined by my allergies. I am not allergic, I have allergies, and they certainly aren?t anything I would choose to add to the list of qualities of which I am made. At the very least, i would be allergic to something.

This ?have vs. am? dichotomy is an idea I would like to see more people with allergies take up. Perhaps it is just high time I wrote a letter to the editor over at ?Allergic Living?.

And for a parting chuckle, check out the AL forums.