Dating a Veggie Thread on eHarmony forums

[Dave in MPLS]

Stumbled across a thread on eHarmony's forums on dating vegetarians. (Long story why I was there in the first place ...) Kinda interesting since the folks posting are mostly (quite possibly entirely) non-vegetarian (of any flavor). Not necessarily the deepest of conversations (spent an awful lot of time on 'who has a more pleasent smell') but still interesting.

Couple things I took away from it:

Folks generally have NO knowledge about 'protein deficiency' - what it is or how to get one. They do have extensive knowledge of friends' cousins' friends who had horrible health issues resulting from critter corpse deficiency. Take away thought: non-nutritionists who weigh in on nutritional issues based on third- or fourth-hand 'knowledge' generally just sound unintelligent.

I've always held that folks who eat meat are often more trigger-happy defensive about their dietary habits than vegetarians (regardless of popular perception/belief). If I say 'I am a vegetarian' I'm not really seeking a defense of your choice not to be - if appropriate a simple 'I am not' will suffice.

In addition to the hordes of non-meat eaters absolutely hobbled by failure to consume corpses, we must watch out for the packs of veggies who spontaneously scoff and - heavens forfend - SHAKE THEIR HEADS DISAPPROVINGLY!!!!!!!!!! at folks eating burgers. Unprovoked.

Now you see why I'm posting this here rather than in the forum that inspired it. I just can't NOT be sarcastic about this stuff. In reality the participants in the thread are not the morons depicted here. Going all nasty on them wouldn't help any one.

But it feels good to vent a little :)

[zoebird]

here's a funny mirror. my husband is omnivorous. he is also very health-focused. he eats mostly vegetables (fresh or steamed), a piece of fruit and nuts at each meal, and also meat (at i think 2 or 3 meals of the day; he has 5 small meals total).

when he makes his meals, people who are unhealthy (by their own assertion) and eating unhealthy food ALWAYS make comments to him about what he is eating as if he is judging them for what they are eating. typically, he's just steaming his broccoli. he has no interest in what others are or are not eating.

in december of last year, he was struggling greatly with anxiety and had a panic attack. thinking that he was dying, he decided to call an ambulance. he was at work.

one of this coworkers, who is very unhealthy based on her hair, nails, skin, medication list, litany of complaints and the like, said "must be that weird food that he eats."

so, anyone who eats healthy food, is apparently, weird.

[LucidAnne]

one of this coworkers, who is very unhealthy based on her hair, nails, skin, medication list, litany of complaints and the like, said "must be that weird food that he eats."

so, anyone who eats healthy food, is apparently, weird.

thats just both hilarious and disturbing.

[das_nut]

They don't know better. It is confusing to them, and their responses show it.

It doesn't make the average veg*n any better or worse, but veg*ns have taken the time to learn what a healthy diet is. (ETA: Kind of. But to argue what is healthy would put this discussion on a tangent.)

What I'd find more interesting is not the questions, but the nature of the response. When faced with someone who has a different lifestyle, are they inquisitive, or are they defensive about their own lifestyle? That says a lot about a person.

Just my (sleep deprived) $.02.

[Eikon]

They don't know better. It is confusing to them, and their responses show it.

It doesn't make the average veg*n any better or worse, but veg*ns have taken the time to learn what a healthy diet is. (ETA: Kind of. But to argue what is healthy would put this discussion on a tangent.)

What I'd find more interesting is not the questions, but the nature of the response. When faced with someone who has a different lifestyle, are they inquisitive, or are they defensive about their own lifestyle? That says a lot about a person.

Just my (sleep deprived) $.02.

Although it has to be said that there are veg*ns that eat just as unhealthy as some omnis. While they are much lower in number, they still exist.

And I think the reason many get defensive about their lifestyle when confronted with a veg*n, is because of the supposed moral high ground so many veg*ns take. Nothing will turn hundreds off of going veg*n faster then 1 militant veg*n berating people for their diet.

[Dave in MPLS]

Although it has to be said that there are veg*ns that eat just as unhealthy as some omnis. While they are much lower in number, they still exist.

When I was in college I knew a guy whose diet exactly mirrored the typically poor fast-food American diet, just without meat. Literally - this kid regularly ate stuff like McDonalds Big Macs hold the burger patty. One of the most food-hostile people I ever met. Salt and grease were the only flavors he seemed to really appreciate.