2002-02-28

vegetable philosophy

sometimes when i am veeerrry hungry, and there is scant food available in my house sufficient enough to satiate this craving, i see the chicken quesedillas in the fridge and have a huge desire to take a huge bite out of them. . .it is often hard to have diet restrictions such as i.

and many people do not make it easy for me to be a vegetarian. don't get me wrong, most people i know are very accepting of my decision not to eat meat, and i'm very thankful for that. but others are not so understanding.

for instance, when i'm going to eat somewhere with other people and they insist on going somewhere like mcdonalds, knowing full well that there is nothing i can eat there. or maybe they don't know. i'll just let myself believe that since other people are not constantly thinking about what there will be that they can eat at a restaurant, they don't realize that i must do that. but i know that when adrienne has been in a situation such as this, and when she asked to go somewhere else the people she was with criticized her.

the worst is when people openly criticize my decision to not eat meat. like today when people at the lunch table make fun of my ideals or the other day when mr smith said that PETA is an sham of an organization dedicated to dishing out lies and propaganda to the masses, claiming that farms don't really abuse animals, even though I have seen animal abuse at farms with my own eyes.

people may ask me why i'm a vegetarian, but the truth is, i don't know. i care about animal rights, but its not like it is the major cause that i'm dedicated to. and i care about my health, and especially the environment, which are both good reasons to be a vegetarian. but honestly, the reason i think i'm a vegetarian is just because its right for me--its just my way, my zen, my. . .whatever. i can't think of any other way. . .for me. i know that vegetarianism is not for everyone, i don't try to seek "converts," even though i'm sure i may act like i am sometimes, but its usually just because i like to argue. . .don't take it personally.

i try very hard to give everone the same respect that i would want. i just wish that others would do the same for me.