Vegan ka-bob
Right now I am at an awkward point. I've made a decision to change my dietary habits (which concerns NO ONE but me) and somehow this decision causes 'disharmony' in the household. Let me elaborate:
I made a facebook post about a documentary I watched that might have solidified my choice to go vegan. I didn't say anything to my aunt and uncle (whom I live with) about the issue even though they found it just fine to blow up my facebook with their opinions.
I came home and didn't say ANYTHING about it, and suddenly I was faced with a wave of teasing. Harsh teasing. Some of it from my Aunt didn't feel like teasing at all honestly. And I wasn't okay with all of it, but I took it in stride. So Sunday rolls around, Super Bowl which means chicken wings. Wings I offered to help cook even though I knew I wouldn't be partaking (and this is a huge point, because even though I changed, I do NOT expect anyone else to change or give a shit I did). So before the festivities, my uncle takes me aside to basically tell me I shouldn't be there for the get together and because I will apparently judge everyone around me, I am...in a sense, cast out of the tribe. My decision will cause disharmony to the family unit and it's MY FAULT.
I swear to God, I didn't even understand what I was hearing. What I'm eating (or not eating) matters? WHY!? I can't explain or describe how hurt I am by this. And while a part of me might know exactly why he thinks this way, it makes it no easier to know that I am not accepted because of a choice that serves no one but me. He threw his kids (my cousins) in my face (like I'd be a bad influence), and he threw religion in my face like not eating a Turkey and practicing organized religion is the same. Today as I type this my heart continues to pump with a dull ache. Everyone I've told is just...floored by the logic, which there seems to be none. And the kicker is...he said he respected my decision. No, you can't. Not if this is how you treat the person who made it.
Can anyone make sense of this? I sure can't, and I've been trying to figure it out since it happened. I just sometimes feel like I will never be accepted by anyone. If my family can't accept me, who the hell will?
I made a facebook post about a documentary I watched that might have solidified my choice to go vegan. I didn't say anything to my aunt and uncle (whom I live with) about the issue even though they found it just fine to blow up my facebook with their opinions.
I came home and didn't say ANYTHING about it, and suddenly I was faced with a wave of teasing. Harsh teasing. Some of it from my Aunt didn't feel like teasing at all honestly. And I wasn't okay with all of it, but I took it in stride. So Sunday rolls around, Super Bowl which means chicken wings. Wings I offered to help cook even though I knew I wouldn't be partaking (and this is a huge point, because even though I changed, I do NOT expect anyone else to change or give a shit I did). So before the festivities, my uncle takes me aside to basically tell me I shouldn't be there for the get together and because I will apparently judge everyone around me, I am...in a sense, cast out of the tribe. My decision will cause disharmony to the family unit and it's MY FAULT.
I swear to God, I didn't even understand what I was hearing. What I'm eating (or not eating) matters? WHY!? I can't explain or describe how hurt I am by this. And while a part of me might know exactly why he thinks this way, it makes it no easier to know that I am not accepted because of a choice that serves no one but me. He threw his kids (my cousins) in my face (like I'd be a bad influence), and he threw religion in my face like not eating a Turkey and practicing organized religion is the same. Today as I type this my heart continues to pump with a dull ache. Everyone I've told is just...floored by the logic, which there seems to be none. And the kicker is...he said he respected my decision. No, you can't. Not if this is how you treat the person who made it.
Can anyone make sense of this? I sure can't, and I've been trying to figure it out since it happened. I just sometimes feel like I will never be accepted by anyone. If my family can't accept me, who the hell will?