There are hundreds of complications only vegetarians and vegans experience. As a vegetarian of almost two years, I have noticed the struggles they face.
Firstly, there are too many jokes. Family and friends constantly taunt with what you can’t have. I wish I had a dollar every time someone said, “Hey, I saved you some chicken. Did you want some?” I would be able to buy at least a new iPhone with the money.
“That cake has meat on it. You can’t eat it” is not any better or original either. Similarly, jokes about when I will gain my vegan powers are popular, too. Lucky for me, I have learned to find them funny.
All jokes aside, people do not always react well when they figure out I am vegetarian. Occasionally, people do assume stereotypes. The main one is the crazy all-meat-is-murder animal rights activist. For some reason, people think I want, and have time, to slowly convert the entire planet meat-free. I love animals myself and did stop eating meat because of them.
However, if anything, people try to correct my vegetarian ways. In the past, I have been stopped by several adults, who took notice and claimed it is bad. All of these occurred while I kept to myself and did grocery shopping. Other individuals have also remarked I am “wasting food,” or that “I need protein.”
While these were not the worst experiences of my life, the comments were unnecessary, especially since I do not stop others in the meat aisle and claim they are eating too much protein.
Still, the worst is when people say, “You can’t eat that. Wait. What’s the difference between vegetarian and vegan?”
Believe it or not, I have been asked what the difference is almost a dozen times. It makes my right eye twitch more than everything else combined. I used to think it was common knowledge.
The second stereotype is the “I only eat fat-free, low-carb, gluten-free vegan food” health nut. I am neither of the two stereotypes, and all vegans and vegetarians I have met so far are not either. They are normal people who happen to choose to not eat animal products. The stereotypes made me develop a concern for seeming picky, annoying or ungrateful when eating out.
As it is already, it can be a problem to eat in public, with friends or family. When people ask me what I eat as a vegetarian, I always shrug. Most times I walk into a restaurant or a friend’s house, not even I know what I will eat.
For new vegetarians like me, I have two recommendations. For one, learn to become creative and mix and match meals and sides. I also learned to just take off the meat parts. There is no need to waste food or complicate eating in public.
