how many of you are accepted by your family and friends? or other people? Me kinda yes and kinda no by family, This week ive been in Yukon visitig friends of my dads.. they DO NOT accept the fact that i do not eat meat or kill animals. This leads them to many questions.. which i can answer.. but knowing they do not accept the facts that i save trees, dont eat meat and walk around bare foot makes me stronger in these areas of my life... how do u feel when people do not accept you ?
I'm generally glad that they've saved me the time and energy involved in working out what ass holes they are. That way, I can cut 'em out of my life asap and spend the enrgy on more important people.
There has never been a problem with anypart of my familiy and friends. My family has never eaten meat every day, so it was very normal to have meatless dishes. My extended family has never mocked me about it, my grandma is a healthfreak so she knows it's ok, just one time an aunt said, I should pick the bacon parts out of the salad if I don't like it, but just out of not knowing, rather then wanting to be mean. Usually there are enough choices without meat. Just the sons of, and the husband of my mom are dorks in that section, but they are dorks anyway. They are the only ones I hear from that there is no possible way to stay healthy without meat.
My biological family simply doesn't get it and rarely acknowledges it. My family of choice and my friends get it.
My family are pretty cool, they don't really get it and say some dumb things at times, but for the most part they just suck it up and deal. My Grandmother still saying 'you don't know what you're missing' whenever it comes up. Which stupid because I do, hence being veggie in the first place. (that and I spent my first 17 years as an omni) My Nan, bless her, is pretty clueless but tries make suitable dinners and such when we visit. My friends are totally fine, most of them have only known me as a veggie so it's no big deal. My omni housemates are even happy to let me feed them (I haven't cooked meat/fish for 18 months, and am not going start any time soon), but then maybe that's because anything is better than blowing your student loan on take out. If you meet me IRL you'd understand. LOL have to agree with the Dok
My parents are somewhat accepting of the "facáde" me, the "good boy" who got good grades in high school and stayed out of trouble and doesn't do anything bad. If my parents knew anything more of the real me than they already know, they'd want to stone me to death. And I'm not talking about the good kind of stoning! =(
My family has grown used to it and I get well-meaning e-mails before visits back. My stepmother was veg for six weeks or something in her hippy heyday. She gets what I'm after, but forgets if I touch eggs or milk. (no and weaning off, although I don't get too excited by hidden eggs..I just make a note to avoid the product later) I do help by cooking a large percentage of the meals or picking up tab when we go out. At home, my sweetie supports but does not adhere to my diet. My son, 13, just wants critter pizza occasionally. I let him. Heck, once every so often, he pay for dinner and he's a pretty good cook. Neither hassles me about it. I have friends who tease me a bit, and yes, that's sad when talking about people looking down the gunbarrel of 40 (or past it) but almost all are former veggies. Maybe I scare them. Most have that uncomfortable "i know she's veg but this is polite" thing going on. sort of like passing the pipe to me. (I don't smoke it anymore) I don't take offense.
Well some of my friends are veggies so they think it's cool that I'm vegan as well. One of my best friends, and a sort of new found friend of mine love to talk with me about things relating to animals, environment and a veg lifestyle --because it's nice to be able to relate to someone when you're a bit in the minority. Another good portion of people that I know ignore my vegan lifestyle altogether which is a lot better than them giving me shit for it. And my parents are a bit odd about it... My mom is all for it although she doesn't FEEL the same way I do, she understands. She knows I've always been an animal/eco-friendly person since I was little, and she thinks it's great that I had the willpower to do something about it. She also loves the fact that im 100x healthier than I ever was because i used to have to go to the doctor on a weekly basis. She, herself, is trying to get into vegan foods to reduce her cholestrol. My dad... is contradicting. He gets irritated with me for how strict I am on myself about it... but at the same time he gives me props for eating so well and so healthy. He doesn't understand it AT ALL, but for the most part he leaves me alone about it... [except when he feels like arguing...he gets into those moods lol] My fiancee can actually be a bit of an ass about it. He becomes a bit selfish when it comes to the whole situation because I can't eat at any given restaurant in town, and when we do go somewhere I modify almost anything I order--in other words he hates it because its an inconvenience to HIM. [honestly, that's not just my vegan lifestyle coming into play, i've always been EXTREMELY picky about what I eat] He knows that if I were to slip up or to stop the vegan way that I wouldn't be happy so he supports it ONLY for that reason... but otherwise he just gives me a great deal of shit about it. I've learned to ignore it for the most part, but when he says things like "I hate your vegan thing" I get a little irritated and usually rebuttle with "Well that's great because I hate your meat thing." when it comes to the general public there's a mix of reactions... some waiters/waitresses are really understanding and do what they can to help me out ...others look at me as if I'm from another planet or ask me stupid questions like "omg, dont you miss steak?!" ... [a lot of times I make a point to inform a waiter/waitress that I'm vegan in hopes that they will understand what I DON'T want to see in my food...and some of them do, and some have no idea what a vegan even is] other than eating out I dont generally run around shouting that I'm a vegan so I don't HAVE to deal with anyones reactions except those close to me. Everyone for the most part is pretty used to it by now and they don't say much... except my fiancee, lol.
