Today I ordered myself a little birthday present. Don’t worry; it is something practical – a cute little lunch bag from the PETA website. PETA stands for “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.” And yes, I am a vegetarian, a lacto-ovo vegetarian to be exact. Basically that means I still eat dairy products and eggs (Give up ice cream? Are you crazy?!).
When I tell people I am a vegetarian, they inevitably ask me why. I usually tell them that eating meat makes me sick – which is true. This is kind of a lame story, but I started working at McDonald’s when I was 14, and was blessed with an employee discount. I took full advantage of it – eating hamburgers on my break and taking chicken nuggets home for dinner. Because of this, I was consuming more animal products than I normally would. I started feeling sick to my stomach a lot more often, so I cut out the red meat. Doing this made me feel better, but not completely. I thought about it for a long time, and eventually decided to give up all types of meat.
I know what you are thinking, it sounds like something is missing from the story. There is. This is the part I usually don’t tell my meat-eating friends, because I think it makes them feel judged by me. At the same time that I was working at McDonald’s, I was making new friends at school, and I meet a girl who had a vegan mother. I went to her house a few times to have dinner, and ended up helping her mom in the kitchen. I learned how to prepare meat-less meals, and I also learned about her animal right beliefs. I began to do my own research, and found out about horrible experiments being done on animals, the suffering inflicted on animals to produce leather, and of course, the awful lives of animals before they are slaughtered to be used for food.
To spare the gory details, I became a strong believer in animal rights. I believe that animals have a right to equal consideration of their interests. And even though I can’t stop all the animal suffering in the world on my own, I can make a small difference by not eating meat.
It does not bother me to see other people eat meat, even if they are a family member, or friend doing it right in front of me. I just don’t enjoy eating meat. I will not try to make anyone stop eating meat, because it is not my choice what other people consume. However, if I do hear someone talking about abusing their pets or other animals, or hunting for FUN, I will excuse myself from the conversation/ask them to stop talking about it/or tell them why I think they should stop.
I usually don’t talk to people about this because I think makes them feel uncomfortable. It is a very controversial topic, especially when it comes to experimenting on animals for scientific purposes, or the control of feral cats.
Like I said, I DO NOT judge anyone who eats meat. Look – I am going to be marrying a carnivore, and we have already dated for 3 years without any problems! It does not even bother me when my family and friends tease me about eating meat, because I know they respect my opinion and are only teasing me. I have had some very wonderful people go out of their way to make me feel comfortable when meat is being served, and for that, I thank them very much.
I have only had a few unpleasant experiences with people who refuse to respect and accept my choices. And this will inevitably happen. I just hope that these people realize I do not expect them to change because of what I do and do not eat. That is a personal decision everyone should make on their own. It is not my desire to influence other people’s eating choices.
