How Gluten and Smoking are alike - an analogy

Ok, bear with me here.  This story is going to start way out in left field, but I promise it will all come together.  My friend used to be a smoker.  She told me about when, years ago, she would smoke on the airplane.  She would smoke while shopping at the grocery store.  She would smoke at the movie theater.  All of those things were a common and accepted practice. Non-smokers were thought of as "irritants", wrinkling up there noses, and fake-coughing when around smokers. Then the scale started tipping in the favor of those "irritants".  

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Over time, smoking fell out of vogue.  It was the smoker who now became the irritant. Everyone knows that "non-smoker" who can't stand the smell of smoke, right?

Remember when you ate gluten without a concern?  The GF folks were an irritant, with their concerns, questions, and intolerance for anything gluteny.  Then the scale started tipping.  You finally learn why you've been sitting on the toilet within minutes of finishing every meal, why you've had the painful bloating and cramps and diarrhea. You were diagnosed and now have to become gluten-free. You finally understand what all of the gluten paranoia was about.  Those "irritants" were right.  ​

See, I told you the story would come around, didn't I?

The first thing to remember when you start on your New life journey is that you will mess up.  It's nearly impossible to maintain a GF lifestyle unless you live in a lonely, isolated bubble. And once your body adjusts to being gluten-free, it will make a big deal out of whenever you consume the tiniest bit of gluten.  BUT there are many things you can do to reduce gluten-breakthroughs.  

Remember when restaurants used to permit smoking, and the smoking and non-smoking sections were separated by a lattice-style wall?  There may be smokers in the smoking section, but the smoke would waft right over to where you were sitting.  A home mixed with gluteners and gluten-freeers is difficult, but possible.  Just be aware that there will be occasional glutenings.  The key is to limit as many opportunities for cross-contamination as possible.

Jane Anderson of verywell wrote a GREAT article about How to Set Up A Shared Kitchen. As a matter of fact, there are several helpful and informative articles on verywell's website.  

As Jane writes, "You'll also need your own dish towels. People frequently wipe their hands on a dish towel (possibly after eating a gluten sandwich?) or use the towel to clean off the counter (think: gluten crumbs). Again, choose a color for your own gluten-free dish towels and educate everyone in the house not to use that color towel."  Or just purchase a set of hot pads and a towel pre-designated as GF to eliminate any color confusion.