Have you ever had someone compare your vegetarianism to pickiness? I for one have been getting this a lot lately, and it has started to really, really aggravate and offend me.
For example, this morning I was out at breakfast with my mom and her boyfriend. He wanted potatoes and asked the waitress if the sauteed breakfast potatoes had any onions or peppers in them. She told him no, they were just potatoes and seasoning. We got our food and he started to eat his potatoes...and then (in a very angry voice, which made it even MORE aggravating) "There are ONIONS in this!!" My mom and I both had the saaaaaame exact potatoes so we asked him to show us the onions...and no joke, he started picking out pieces of "onion" that were no more than crumbs. They weren't onions. They were browned peices of skin and seasoning. But when I told him that he got all pissed off that I can't respect the way he chooses to eat, and if there had been bacon in my food and he said "Just eat it, it won't kill you" that I would be angry too. I was FUMING that he could dare compare the two things...
The man literally eats like a small child and he is over 50. He eats only mild cheddar cheese, only one brand of hot dogs, only white bread, only one brand of highly processed sugary peanut butter, only grape jelly with no seeds, NO fresh fruit (the only thing I've ever seen him eat are apples and canned peaches in heavy syrup), NO green vegetables whatsoever (Iceburg lettuce is the closest he gets), And honestly what I just listed is basically the extent of what he'll eat. He won't stray from it, he won't try anything different, and if an onion or a pepper or, god forbid, an herb, sneaks into his food, he complains for ages and he is honestly VERY rude about it. But to compare the fact that he won't go out of his comfort zone to the fact that I think it is MORALLY WRONG for an animal to die so I can eat it? That just blows me away and completely offends me.
Of course I would be upset if meat sneaked into my food, but for one thing it is because if I ate meat I know I'd be sick, and besides, I firmly believe that no animal should have to die for my eating "pleasure." Would you tell a jewish person to stop being so picky and just eat ham already? Would you tell a hindu person that eating a cow "won't kill them" and to stop being so annoying? Well most people wouldn't, because it's incredibly rude and demeaning. It's like saying that their beliefs mean nothing. Vegetarianism is like my religion, it is what I believe in so I don't understand why it is ok to make it seem like I'm just being annoying and picky. I tried to express this but he argued that the way he eats are his opinions and beliefs (WHAT) and that they're the exact same things. What am I supposed to say to that?? It's rude, offensive, and horrifying.
sorry for the superlong rant but this, as you can see, reallllly pissed me off and it's not the first time it happened. How many of you experience these things? Do you agree with me? Have good arguments? I wish people understood that my choice is something important. It's been four years for me already, and people just think it's no big deal.
For example, this morning I was out at breakfast with my mom and her boyfriend. He wanted potatoes and asked the waitress if the sauteed breakfast potatoes had any onions or peppers in them. She told him no, they were just potatoes and seasoning. We got our food and he started to eat his potatoes...and then (in a very angry voice, which made it even MORE aggravating) "There are ONIONS in this!!" My mom and I both had the saaaaaame exact potatoes so we asked him to show us the onions...and no joke, he started picking out pieces of "onion" that were no more than crumbs. They weren't onions. They were browned peices of skin and seasoning. But when I told him that he got all pissed off that I can't respect the way he chooses to eat, and if there had been bacon in my food and he said "Just eat it, it won't kill you" that I would be angry too. I was FUMING that he could dare compare the two things...
The man literally eats like a small child and he is over 50. He eats only mild cheddar cheese, only one brand of hot dogs, only white bread, only one brand of highly processed sugary peanut butter, only grape jelly with no seeds, NO fresh fruit (the only thing I've ever seen him eat are apples and canned peaches in heavy syrup), NO green vegetables whatsoever (Iceburg lettuce is the closest he gets), And honestly what I just listed is basically the extent of what he'll eat. He won't stray from it, he won't try anything different, and if an onion or a pepper or, god forbid, an herb, sneaks into his food, he complains for ages and he is honestly VERY rude about it. But to compare the fact that he won't go out of his comfort zone to the fact that I think it is MORALLY WRONG for an animal to die so I can eat it? That just blows me away and completely offends me.
Of course I would be upset if meat sneaked into my food, but for one thing it is because if I ate meat I know I'd be sick, and besides, I firmly believe that no animal should have to die for my eating "pleasure." Would you tell a jewish person to stop being so picky and just eat ham already? Would you tell a hindu person that eating a cow "won't kill them" and to stop being so annoying? Well most people wouldn't, because it's incredibly rude and demeaning. It's like saying that their beliefs mean nothing. Vegetarianism is like my religion, it is what I believe in so I don't understand why it is ok to make it seem like I'm just being annoying and picky. I tried to express this but he argued that the way he eats are his opinions and beliefs (WHAT) and that they're the exact same things. What am I supposed to say to that?? It's rude, offensive, and horrifying.
sorry for the superlong rant but this, as you can see, reallllly pissed me off and it's not the first time it happened. How many of you experience these things? Do you agree with me? Have good arguments? I wish people understood that my choice is something important. It's been four years for me already, and people just think it's no big deal.