Saturday, May 24, 2008

Are you one of these people?

Today I just learned about this lady called Maneka Gandhi. She is a politician, environmentalist and animal rights activist. She has an NGO - People for Animals. If you are a vegan or vegetarian please have a good smile, if you aren't, please laugh and don't be offended :)

Are you one of these people? By Maneka Gandhi

Being a vegetarian is fun. If you do not harm, you will not be harmed, is my philosophy. But there are some people that really make me ill.

1. People from vegetarian families who, tucking into a meat airline meal, say , I never eat meat at home.

2. People who say, yes, we are vegetarians but when we go abroad it is so difficult to find a decent vegetarian meal so we eat meat.

3. People who say I can't stand meat so I usually take the vegetables out of the meat stew and eat them.

4. If I say I don't drink milk because it is really bad for the body, people who ask, what about paneer and dahi?

5. People who say, its only one life, you spend it sacrificing everything, eating only ghaas phoos. You have to have real food.

6. People who remark when you say you are vegetarian ," but you look so healthy".

7. People expect you to be humorless, strident, and out to convert them. They will bring up the subject themselves and then say you are obsessive.

8. People who say , food is a personal choice, it should not be discussed or condemned ( I wish they'd ask the animal !)

9. People who serve meat at Indian weddings.

10. People who think that you have to be a radical or extremist to be vegetarian.

11. People who are asked whether they are veg or non veg reply " both".

12. People who say ," I am gradually leaving meat as I grow older."

13. People who say " I want to be vegetarian but my in laws won't let me."

14. People who offer you salad dishes as an alternative to meat. People who offer you steamed carrots with peas and baby corn as a main dish.

15. When you tell someone that you're a vegetarian, they tell you that they really want to eat healthier and then go into all the reasons why its hard and they can't. But you weren't interested in having the conversation go that direction, and you can't seem to get them to get off it.

16. People who tell you that they are vegetarian on Tuesdays.

17. Lots of times I am just standing somewhere, minding my own business, and a meat eater comes up and start arguing, saying that pork isn't cruel, blah blah blah!

18. People who think that you must be very religious if you are vegetarian or that you can have no hobbies or interests apart from the promotion of vegetarianism. Sports – totally out!

19. People who make the lunch you bring to work the topic of conversation...EVERY DAY! People who make your vegetarian lifestyle the big topic of conversation at EVERY business dinner you ever attend.

20. People who point out that vegetables are alive too!

21. People who make me restrain myself every time I hear "I couldn't do it" as the closing argument on every discussion of the merits of veganism.

22. People who argue that "But the animals would take over the earth if we didn't eat them!" (oh well, we are not over populated with human even when no other animals kill us!)

23. People who attempt to be scientists and economists "It is obvious that a plant-based diet is good for health and the environment, but the economy would suffer greatly and people would lose their jobs if everyone stopped eating meat."

24. People who say that , if we didn't eat animals, they would die from starvation anyway.

25. People who apologise for eating meat in front of you and carry on eating anyway.

26. People who suddenly back away from you when you mention that you are vegan in polite conversation, the way they do when avoiding beggars.

27. People who lapse into an awkward silence when you finally get around to mentioning you're a vegan.

28. People who ask " What about soup, what about chocolate till they go down a whole list and use up all the time you have.

29. People who use doctors who supposedly said that they have to have eggs and meat to stay healthy in order to buttress their own appetite for meat

30. People who say : but animals were invented for us to eat

31. People you eat out will get exasperated when you try to determine what exactly is in the food you are ordering. (If it were an allergy, it would be fine, but since it's a choice, it's weird.)

32. People who hear you are vegetarian, he says, "Oh, what about your son. Is he normal?"

33. People who tell you that when their children decided to be vegetarian they put only meat on the table because once they just tasted it, they would realize meat was okay.

34. People who accuse you of holding animals in greater regard than humans because you are vegetarian. People just don't understand that caring for animals doesn't mean you think they're more important than humans, just that they are AS important.

35. People who say that cows like to be milked (would YOU liked to be milked by a different species and separated from your young after they are born?)

36. People who say "God told us to eat meat."

37. People who serve a meat and veg dish and then say "You can take the meat off and eat the rest of it".

38. You are afraid to give any bad impressions, because everyone you meet will tell somebody else, "I met a vegan. She seemed snappy and unhappy to me."

39. People who "used to be vegetarian" but "outgrew it" (i.e. began to find it inconvenient).

40. People who tell you that they are "nearly vegetarian".

41. People who expect you to be an authority on all types of health concerns, exercise, yoga eastern philosophy, agriculture and medicine and special diet restrictions (I am but that's another matter!). "Oh, you're a strict vegetarian. Do you know what causes acne?" or "What can I give my celiac and lactose intolerant daughter to snack on?"

42.Your friends introduce you as a vegetarian sometimes before your name is even mentioned.

43. Vegetarians whose little children are allowed to eat meat because "I cannot make choices for them" but will make choices about their school, clothes, friends and everything else.

Are you one of these people ?

Picture source http://www.bihartimes.com/Maneka/areuoneofthese.html

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ha Ha :))

easyV said...

Funny stuff!

The Vegan Countess said...

Wonderful! I completely relate!

Naresh Kadyan said...

Thik h

Jari (travelling-vegan) said...

44. People who say "But you seem to be strong and healthy!" when you tell them you're vegetarian.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic list. I've experienced them all I think - the non-Indian related ones. How about people that do all those things -- monitor what you're eating to see if you might have ingested dairy etc --and then one day they happen to have a cheese sandwich for lunch and so they brag that they're having a vegetarian meal. Or people who refer to food items saying 'oh it only has a little bit of meat/cheese in it'. Or people who constently single you out for being a vegetarian, but once there is another vegetarian in the mix, they suddenly think vegetarianism is a great thing. Cowards.

urban vegan said...

Haha.

Add to the list: Are you overweight and suffering from diseases of overconsumption, like heart disease, diabetes or cancer, and feel compelled to ask me where I get my protein? Most people, Americans anyway, get way too much.

Kumudha said...

Great!

Anonymous said...

I do indeed find it strange when omnivores apologize to me for eating meat. Why, I ask, do you feel it necessary to apologize for eating meat if my argument that eating meat is immoral is wrong?

Anonymous said...

My favorite is when people tell me that not only are vegetables and fruit alive, but they can feel pain too.

dreamy said...

Thank you everyone for the additional interesting conversations you have encounter, it was really nice reading what you have come across :D

Anonymous said...

somehow vegans have this intolerant better-than-thou bahaviorial traits...

Anonymous said...

'People you eat out will get exasperated'
i lolled

still learning said...

everything she wrote is so true!

n i had mean people telling me that i sinned when i drink water and when i breathe, coz i'd be "eating" the micro-organisms in the water/air too small to be seen. i was very uneasy after that ='(

minesha said...

ha ha ! This list is so true. I have met so many poeple who talk like this at school. I can totally relate.

Sometimes I feel so silly having to tell an educated man that vegetables are not alive. I mean, you have a science degree and you are saying that? And then you say that animals were made for humans and cows like to be milked. Well then, if animals were made for us, why didn't they just fall out of the sky dead and fresh?

Another thing I do not like is when people say that I am overthinking! If I had an allergy, I am considered responsible towards my health,but if I just want to be vegan, I am wasting all my energy.

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