I was thinking about that too. People with (severe) food allergies die from them even in developed countries, where there are laws to protect them and the subject is close to the public's consciousness, e.g. deaths from food alergies make it to the popular press and even become front-page news (as the recent case of a teenager who died on a plane journey after eating a sandwich with sesame seeds from Pret-a-manger in the UK). I'm sure it's much easier for something to go seriously wrong if you live in a society that is completely oblivious to the fact that, for some people, everyday foodstuffs can be lethal.
So maybe the fact that the Russian crew in the article find the idea of food allergies so amusing is not their robust Slav character, but the fact that, well, perhaps because of that character, people with severe food allergies die very early on where they come from.
I know, that sounds a bit horrible to say. Apologies to Russian readers.
I was thinking about that too. People with (severe) food allergies die from them even in developed countries, where there are laws to protect them and the subject is close to the public's consciousness, e.g. deaths from food alergies make it to the popular press and even become front-page news (as the recent case of a teenager who died on a plane journey after eating a sandwich with sesame seeds from Pret-a-manger in the UK). I'm sure it's much easier for something to go seriously wrong if you live in a society that is completely oblivious to the fact that, for some people, everyday foodstuffs can be lethal.
So maybe the fact that the Russian crew in the article find the idea of food allergies so amusing is not their robust Slav character, but the fact that, well, perhaps because of that character, people with severe food allergies die very early on where they come from.
I know, that sounds a bit horrible to say. Apologies to Russian readers.