The post below was written on a slightly snarky Monday morning. It occurred to me that I have a treasure trove of putative reasons why people think I am vegan stored in my head, garnered from various omni comments, observable body language, and my super-psychic sneaky ESP abilities. Also, it makes a change to focus on why people think we are vegan, rather than on why they say they aren’t and why we think they should be (good heavens, the number of times I've heard “But I could never give up cheese!” or “But chickens have to lay eggs!” ... although I used to say it myself, usually as I gobbled a cheese platter or a swirled my buttery toast in a soft-boiled. Convenient position to take).
Comments I’ve received about why veganism is undesirable range from the good-natured but ill-informed – what about protein? – to the smart-arse –what about the bugs crushed when crops are harvested? Gotcha! or But it’s so tasty! Here, smell my steak! – to the just plain wrong –it’s impossible to eat in restaurants; you mustn’t like good food; – and to the outright offensive – I couldn’t care less what happens; I like my meat freshly slaughtered; mmm, I wonder how this cow died - I hope it was slow and painful.
It’s been an interesting exercise to recall and collate them, and although the list comes across as smart-arsey, be assured that I have heard each and every one of them in earnest (obviously I have exaggerated a bit to emphasise the ridiculousness of some comments. But they are all real).
What have you heard? What’s got up your nose most? What has opened the door to a genuine conversation? What will make you turn homicidal if you ever hear it again? What have been the positive and negative responses, successes and failures? (I personally list the day that Buzz requested a soy coffee in the morning even though there was dairy in the fridge as a massive, massive triumph).
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