One very compelling reason to never eat out
Allow me to begin by stating that I rarely, if ever, eat at restaurants. But I did today. Not my choice. Just something I had to do.
Let's complicate matters further. I recently decided (a handful of days ago) to become a vegetarian. I probably wouldn't have said anything at all about it if it weren’t for this night.
So. A few days vegetarian. Still transitioning. It takes time. And now I have to go out to a restaurant. And everything was meat. I mean everything. And I'm sitting there holding this menu and trying to think of any possible exit.
Option A: the cop-out. Just order something with meat and suck it up. Complication: I honestly don't want it. Even if my primary reason for switching was removed from the equation, I just don't crave meat at all.
Option B: fake ailment. Complication: I'm almost never sick and when I am I usually don't let on. It would have been tremendously obvious.
Option C: order something semi-satisfying that will get me through the evening.
I went with option C eventually, but that is not the point of this story.
I'm sitting there, mentally riffling through these options as fast as my brain can process them, and one of the people I'm with leans over and very loudly tries to tell me what I SHOULD eat.
This was a problem for two reasons: one, what she was suggesting was not appealing at all. And two, she was quite loud no matter what I said or did to make her stop.
Furthermore, it was a major problem because not everyone at that table knew I had recently switched to a vegetarian eating style. And frankly, I don’t think they need to know. It’s the right choice for me, but I’m not going to make other people change because I have. All I ask in return is that what I decide to eat or not eat be my business and no one else’s. But that situation does not seem likely to last. And all because I went out to eat for the first and last time in many many months.
And that is my one very compelling reason to never eat out. Bon apetite.
Let's complicate matters further. I recently decided (a handful of days ago) to become a vegetarian. I probably wouldn't have said anything at all about it if it weren’t for this night.
So. A few days vegetarian. Still transitioning. It takes time. And now I have to go out to a restaurant. And everything was meat. I mean everything. And I'm sitting there holding this menu and trying to think of any possible exit.
Option A: the cop-out. Just order something with meat and suck it up. Complication: I honestly don't want it. Even if my primary reason for switching was removed from the equation, I just don't crave meat at all.
Option B: fake ailment. Complication: I'm almost never sick and when I am I usually don't let on. It would have been tremendously obvious.
Option C: order something semi-satisfying that will get me through the evening.
I went with option C eventually, but that is not the point of this story.
I'm sitting there, mentally riffling through these options as fast as my brain can process them, and one of the people I'm with leans over and very loudly tries to tell me what I SHOULD eat.
This was a problem for two reasons: one, what she was suggesting was not appealing at all. And two, she was quite loud no matter what I said or did to make her stop.
Furthermore, it was a major problem because not everyone at that table knew I had recently switched to a vegetarian eating style. And frankly, I don’t think they need to know. It’s the right choice for me, but I’m not going to make other people change because I have. All I ask in return is that what I decide to eat or not eat be my business and no one else’s. But that situation does not seem likely to last. And all because I went out to eat for the first and last time in many many months.
And that is my one very compelling reason to never eat out. Bon apetite.