Coming out as a Veg*n
I was describing to V a conversation that I had with my clinicals group, the yes-I-don't-eat-meat-eggs-or-dairy-discussion. He said it sounded just like coming out, and I think it's an apt description. One of my observant and curious classmates had noticed that I was only eating plant matter, and when we were all sitting together during a lunch break, he asked me if I ate any fish or seafood. No, I said, shaking my head. So you must be a vegan, came the response. Yes, as I nodded my head as everyone sitting around us tried to digest what was said. Then the room filled with the volley of curious questions, what do I eat for protein, is V vegan, do I take iron supplements, do I take a multivitamin, do I like soy milk, do I eat frankenfood, etc. etc. and the explanations.
I'm thankful that I don't get a lot of noise, some folks do, but I've been doing this for so long... this conversation is both amusing and absolutely predictable. V tells me that he's had it many times, by virtue of his relationship to me. When they give him the inevitable look of 'OMG DID YOU JUST SAY YOUR WIFE IS A PETA WHACKO' kind of look, he always clarifies that I'm not the militant Nazi kind. It helps that I'm not malnourished, I suspect that's what people expect when they hear the term Vegan. Folks that have known me for at least a few minutes are usually surprised by the revelation.
Any group of people I work with, or spend time with, V's family, MY family, new friends, old pre-Vegan friends, this conversation takes place. I just wish that Vegans didn't have such a bad reputation to begin with, and no, I'm no fan of PETA. Their retarded radical black and white thinking has been only a destructive thing. Teenagers looking for an identity that they think allows them some amount of moral superiority over others have also been destructive. NO YOU MORONS THAT'S NOT HOW THIS WORKS. Thank you self-serving asswads, for creating such social stigma against compassion, of all freaking things.
I'm thankful that I don't get a lot of noise, some folks do, but I've been doing this for so long... this conversation is both amusing and absolutely predictable. V tells me that he's had it many times, by virtue of his relationship to me. When they give him the inevitable look of 'OMG DID YOU JUST SAY YOUR WIFE IS A PETA WHACKO' kind of look, he always clarifies that I'm not the militant Nazi kind. It helps that I'm not malnourished, I suspect that's what people expect when they hear the term Vegan. Folks that have known me for at least a few minutes are usually surprised by the revelation.
Any group of people I work with, or spend time with, V's family, MY family, new friends, old pre-Vegan friends, this conversation takes place. I just wish that Vegans didn't have such a bad reputation to begin with, and no, I'm no fan of PETA. Their retarded radical black and white thinking has been only a destructive thing. Teenagers looking for an identity that they think allows them some amount of moral superiority over others have also been destructive. NO YOU MORONS THAT'S NOT HOW THIS WORKS. Thank you self-serving asswads, for creating such social stigma against compassion, of all freaking things.