I have an upcoming multi-hour interview which includes one hour with a lunch (not a break, a continuation of the interview). I'm being asked to select a box lunch order ahead of time. Given that I have severe food sensitivities, the options available from the particular catering company's online offerings don't really meet my needs.
I could:
- order a box lunch but only eat the piece of fruit, leaving most of the food uneaten
- don't order or eat anything
- decline ordering and bring my own lunch
- order something and avoid the worst immediate-reaction foods while eating what will give me only intestinal distress
- something else
If I don't eat carefully I can have very unpleasant reactions, though nothing life-threatening. I don't want to be seen as "special" or act as though I'm self-entitled in any way. I could just avoid the whole problem by not eating, but this itself could put interviewers off who are judging their comfort with me socially as well as professionally.
If I just eat food as a sacrifice and am hired, and then later during employment I decline eating at times (invitations to particular restaurants or lunch or provided lunches) then the question can come up "but you ate this before, what's wrong?" making me seem inconsistent.
Bringing food seems like the worst idea. It may be no big deal for others, but it feels very awkward to me to show up to an interview clutching a brown paper bag in addition to my black portfolio. And while others open their boxes, I'm going to whip out random weird things in little ziploc bags? Ugh. Just a week ago with a friend in public I had an experience much like this where my nonstandard food was of intense interest.
What do I do?
Note: my food reactions may be, or may be similar to, Herxheimer reactions. Also, with a strong enough dose of an MSG analog, in 90 minutes I can be either falling asleep with no power to stop it or I can actually end up speaking nonsense if I'm prevented from sleeping. This would be after the interview ends, though.