I’ve talked about how my parents are supportive of me being vegan. I’ve talked about how they try to cook vegan meals for us. But what I haven’t talked about is how they still seem oblivious to the fact that we don’t think meat is as great as they do, and it totally blows my mind.
We Are Getting A Bucket Of Chubby Chicken!
Mother’s Day is coming up and we are going out for a picnic with my parents. We were all talking about what we were going to bring to the picnic and my dad turned to me with excitement in his eyes and said that they were going to pick up a bucket of chubby chicken to bring out.
First, my dad calls all take-out chicken, chubby chicken. He seems to really like the term – as if it makes chicken more appealing and tastier.
I guess that Chubby Chicken is a term A&W uses for their chicken, but my dad usually refers to KFC’s chicken as chubby chicken.
I hate it when says chubby chicken. But what I hate more is that he thinks I’m going to get excited about him eating a dead, mutilated, fried chicken.
I’ve been a vegetarian since I was very young – still living at their home, so I have spent years demonstrating to my parents that I don’t like meat, don’t think it’s cool to eat meat, and don’t get excited about eating meat… yet, they still talk about all the amazing meat that they buy and eat as if I’m going to get excited and say YUMMY!
I have given them disgusted looks when they talk about meat. I have said things like, “That’s gross.” I have touched on the lives of animals destined to be slaughtered. But they still don’t seem to comprehend that telling me about their favorite meat dishes is annoying and frustrating to me.
I Realize That It’s Not Just Happening To Me
I know that my parents are not the only non-vegans to talk about meat to their vegan family and friends like it’s the most amazing thing in the world. I hear about it all the time in my vegan groups, especially in the Vegan for Her group.
Friends, family, and even coworkers are constantly telling their vegan counterparts about things like meat and dairy, even when it should be obvious that they don’t want to hear about it.
What I Think Is Happening
They like meat. They think it’s great. They want to share their excitement about the things they like. They don’t stop to think that you don’t care. They don’t stop to think that you could actually be revolted and disgusted by it. They are thinking about themselves and want to share a little of themselves with you.
I think it’s a lack of awareness. I wouldn’t talk about how great a drink is with someone who is a recovering alcoholic. I have more awareness than that. I know they don’t want to hear about the latest drink creations I made and how awesome they were, so I don’t talk about them.
But some people don’t think about that. They don’t take into consideration or care about the fact that you are not a fan of what they are a fan of, and they share their meat and dairy stories with excitement and enthusiasm and don’t even realize that you want to scream, “Why are you talking about this to me?!”
I think that most people are not doing it out of spite.
They want you to know how much they love eating meat and dairy.
They feel like they are sharing something positive from their lives.
They want to share their favorite things with you.
They just don’t have the awareness to realize that it’s either not something you care about or is annoying as hell and pissing you off, and they may never obtain that awareness despite what you say or do in response.
So, to all the non-vegans who come into my life, please understand that I’ve excluded meat and dairy from my life for a reason and I don’t think your meat and dairy stories are yummy or exciting. I won’t make you listen to things you don’t want to hear about if you don’t make me listen to things I don’t want to hear about.
