I've been doing the vegetarian thing for almost a week now. I literally just sat there last week and said "you know, I think I'm going to become a vegetarian."
And then I did.
I always felt that people were somewhat justified when they bitched about arrogant vegetarians. I figured they must just always be these sweet innocent victims. I get why vegetarians and vegans probably come off as dicks though.
I'm making a cheese and veggie sandwich at work. No problems there, we have awesome vegetables that are all nice and fresh and tasty and we have some pretty good cheese options right now. The grill guy comes up and asks me if I want him to put down a fresh hamburger for me, and I decline.
"I don't want a burger today" I say.
"Okay, well the spicy and crispy chicken just came up, do you want one of those? I can put a grilled down for you." He's just trying to be helpful, I know.
"nah, I don't want chicken either. I'm making a veggie sandwich," I finally admit.
"well damn, at least put some bacon on that."
"No, that's okay, I don't want to eat meat anymore."
"why the hell not? Meat is awesome. Bacon is delicious. Come on, just a few pieces of bacon. Look how fresh and tasty it is." at which point he eats some bacon and moans over it's amazingness while continuing to insist that I let him put some one my sandwich.
This has been the general response. From people who know me, and people who don't. The thing is, I used to be that douche. I used to be the dickbag who sat there and talked about how delicious a burger was to my veggie friends. I used to be the girl who took pleasure in teasing a vegetarian. The one who threatened to sneak meat into their food for laughs (although, I never did.)
You guys don't realize this from the Omnivore side of the fence, but you're being dicks. I get that you can't fathom never eating meat again, and I don't give a flying fuck. It feels as patronizing to me as me saying I'm a vegetarian feels patronizing to YOU. The difference is YOU offered ME meat. YOU asked ME why I didn't chose a certain food item. I only offered up the information about myself to let you know why, because you wanted to know. You ACTUALLY patronizing me over it wasn't asked for. If you eat meat I assume it's because you can't or don't want to give it up.
You don't have to sit there telling me how good bacon is. I ate bacon for 23 years. I'm trying to expand my experiences beyond the normal bounds of my life. I'm trying to live as a healthy and conscious human being. I'm trying to learn more about life and my food and how the two interact with one another.
And while a very small percentage of people do need meat, most of you don't. You just prefer to get your protein that way. I'm fine with that. Don't tell me how unhealthy my choice is just because you're choices are different, especially considering the people putting me down are eating deep fried and over processed foods.
Are there douchey vegetarians? Of course there are. Does that mean every vegetarian who points out that you're precious meat isn't a magical lifeforce is a smug dick? No. It probably means their sick of the bullshit they have to deal with from people patronizing them about their choice in food.
People literally act like you're unamerican for being a vegetarian or just eating healthy. I mean no exaggeration. We live in a country where patriotism is equated to mass consumption of processed meats. It's fucking crazy. "You don't want turkey on thanksgiving? But it's a NATIONAL HOLIDAY. No one will care if you break your vegetarian diet for ONE day."
Seriously guys? Seriously?
XoXo,
S
2 comments:
I was probably one of those veggie friends you had in high school. I wasn't really vegetarian to be a pretentious dick, though. I just really didn't like meat. Still dont. I like the flavor of meat, like in soup with noodles. But I don't like eating it, except for turkey occasionally. I can't even fathom eating a steak, and I absolutely hate chicken. I only just tried bacon a few years ago, and I agree that it's good in small doses. Very small doses.
I honestly got used to the whole "you need to eat meat! come on, just try it, and you'll like it" stuff because P does it all the time. What I hate is when people used to call me anorexic and make fun of me for not eating full portions. Bitch, you don't know me. It's not my fault that I have a small stomach and can only eat a handful of food at a time! It sure came in handy, though, when I was poor freshman year of college and living off of ramen and instant potatoes. I made that shit last forever!
You were. You and Bridget.
I used to love meat. But, just like when I gave up non-diet sodas; now regular ones taste bad. I didn't drink diet drinks for FOUR days, and now they just don't taste right. I still want a few mini tacos when rob makes them, but I'm pretty sure when I hit the new year and allot myself ONE day a month that I can consume ONE meat product, that I won't like it as much anymore. I'm going to buy more veggies tomorrow because I actually like them regardless of how often I eat them.
Mind=blown
I never thought this of myself.
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