Calling all Vegetarians!

Options
JennMarieFitz
JennMarieFitz Posts: 73 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm not one, but I'm curious, what are some silly things people say to you? I used to be one of those people who constantly gave vegetarians a hard time because I loved eating meat so much. Come to find out, beef makes me very sick and I don't like it very much anymore. I still eat chicken, and I'm allergic to fish, so here I am, totally understanding how okay it is to have that kind of lifestyle. I've since apologized to my friends who don't eat meat for my rudeness, but I'm curious who else has the problem of people making fun/ mocking their different eating habits? It is for a paper I am writing.

-I'm NOT posting this to single out or hurt anyone.

Replies

  • chi18
    chi18 Posts: 95 Member
    Options
    I'll preface this by saying these never come from people who need to know. I'm not eating dinner at their house and they are trying to accommodate me, it's pure nosiness.
    "So, why don't you eat meat?" This usually comes from a total stranger to whom, frankly, I don't owe an explanation. Or even worse, it will come up at a work dinner where I really don't want the focus on my diet.
    "But how do you get protein?" Because, you know, it must be IMPOSSIBLE without meat.
    "Do you eat fish? Do you eat seafood? What about gelatin? Do you eat cheese? Do you eat______?"
    "Isn't it hard? Don't you miss it?"
    "I don't know how you do it, I couldn't live without bacon."
    "What do you do on Thanksgiving?"
    "I'm pretty sure that ______ isn't vegetarian." Whatever blank is usually actually is vegetarian. A lot of people seem to be always on alert to somehow 'catch' us eating meat unknowingly.
    And, my personal favorite, "If God didn't want us to eat meat he wouldn't have given us animals." You've got to be kidding me.
  • seed_of_wonder
    seed_of_wonder Posts: 202 Member
    Options
    "how do you get protein?!"
    "...thats why you're so skinny"
    "how can you do that?"
    "so do you like, eat chicken?"
    "so what do you eat?"
    I've had friends try to sneak meat in my food just to see if i would catch them (which i did)
    I've had bribes to eat mcdonalds
    and I've been called a hippie countless times
  • laurenkeh
    laurenkeh Posts: 15 Member
    Options
    People do ask A LOT of questions about it when they find out I'm vegetarian. I understand it's out of curiosity, but it's mainly about my personal reasons. In fact chi118 has got my quote completely! "So... why don't you eat meat?". I normally just answer with "because I don't see the difference between a cow and a dog" and leave it at that.

    When I'm eating out with friends you get two kinds of reactions. One type feels bad about eating a steak next to you, and I assure them I don't mind at all. The second type will go "Mmmm steak, don't you miss it?".

    I think the most annoying thing is the concern for my partner and future children. People (not even friends but work colleagues, aquaintances etc) ask - "will you force your children to be vegetarian/ will you let your children eat meat".

Categories