From: Carol (1cust23.tnt2.santa-clara.ca.da.uu.net)
In Reply to: Recently becam vegetarian - help! posted by Catherine on January 6, 2000 at 9:16 am:
Catherine, I still go through this and I've been a vegan for almost 16 years! One thing you can say to them that will get you off the hook is that you're allergic to meat. This doesn't give them anything to throw back at you and they can't attack your reasons or beliefs. When I became a vegan, it was because I realized I just couldn't eat animals anymore, it upset me too much. But before that I really was allergic to animal products, having been allergy tested some years ago and finding that I was allergic to all animal products, and I mean ALL. I couldn't eat any kind of meat, fish or foul without have a reaction. So, when I became a vegan and started realizing how NOT understanding people can be about it, if I wasn't up for constantly defending myself, I'd just tell them that I was allergic and that was the end of the discussion. Fortunately most people were fairly accepting about my choice, but for the small number of individuals who had obviously nothing better to do than chastize me, I opted to bail with the allergy story. It worked every time. Take care and hang in there. Carol
Subject: Re: Recently becam vegetarian - help!
Date: January 14, 2000 at 11:27 pm PST