“You’re a vegetarian?”
No. I just say that because I want people to taunt me for no reason.
“Yes.”
Here is where I get the privilege of being entertained by what my meat-eating peers, ignorant and naïve, have to enlighten me about my choice of dietary intake.
“Where do you get PROTEIN?”
“How can you do that? I could never be a vegetarian!”
And, my personal favorite- “God put animals on this earth for us to eat!”
Well my fellow Samaritan, I have answers for all of those. There are other means of protein besides eating a carcass. Fortunately, I am not you, and you go right along eating God’s precious animals. I hope that delicious hunk of animal goes straight to your thighs.
I have become accustomed to the laughing sneers and claims that I am a complete idiot .And I am just about used to my diet being criticized on a daily basis..
I am a vegetarian for a number of reasons. First, I am generally a very compassionate person, and I do not completely agree with or want to be a part of, or induce in any way, the practices preformed at slaughterhouses. Secondly, I believe animal agriculture is tremendously destructive on the environment and wasteful of the earth’s resources such as freshwater. And third, a vegetarian diet is extremely healthy. It is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and high in antioxidants, magnesium, potassium, carbohydrates, folate, fiber and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals. Many health organizations promote eating less meat to greatly decrease the risk of multiple different kinds of cancers and diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.
Apparently, since I do not eat similarly to other people- I am different. Apparently, because of my diet,I am crazy. I will never truly understand why people care so much about what I eat. Why do people taunt me SO much just because I do not take in the same type of “protein” they do? Does what I eat make me that much different from someone else? I have packed that deep into my brimming suitcase full of things I do not understand about human beings.
The only two people in my family who supports me regarding my vegetarianism are my younger sister, who is 13, and my father, who is a doctor. Many people tell me that I am in terrible danger because my diet is unsafe. But, I think that if my diet is that dreadfully perilous, my father, who is an M.D, would not have let me maintain living this way for so long. In fact, my dad has told me on several occasions that not only do I inspire him to eat healthier, but that he tries to reduce his meat intake himself so that he may attain a healthier diet. So the next time someone pulls the “unsafe diet” card on me, I will make sure to pull the “my dad is a doctor” card on them.
One thing that has never departed from my memory is when my younger sister told me of a day in her health class she thought she would share with me.
My sister’s health teacher composed an idea that the class would do a survey on what type of ‘person’ everyone was. After completing this task, the teacher asked the class, “Did anyone get a vegetarian to sign theirs? Is anyone a vegetarian in this class?” Everyone looked around blankly. The teacher went on, “No? Well that’s good. Vegetarians are idiots. Why would they live here? This is Texas.”
Another experience that truly touched my heart is when I was at my best friend’s house. His parents had just learned that I was a vegetarian. As his father asked me the repetitive, cliche, “What do you eat for food?” I only sighed and stated, “Everything but meat.”
Following this was one of the most emotive replies I have ever received to this statement.
“I was just wondering, because I do a lot of cooking. And I just need to know what kind of things I can cook for you for dinner.”
Before this, no one has ever attempted, or even offered to cook for me, not even my own family. This truly brought tears to my eyes.
I guess you can say that I am weird, or that I am different, or that I am stupid. But frankly, I just do not care too much. Because I am a vegetarian, and that is just who I am.
