I really enjoy being vegan. After all, I wouldn’t be approaching the five-year mark if I didn’t. There are very few things that irritate me to the point of ranting about it, but there is one thing that pushes my buttons like no other and it’s going out to eat as a group with friends of friends (people who don’t know I’m vegan and/or don’t know much about veganism itself).
It’s not so much the fact that they look at me sideways when I order something out of the norm or ask about what ingredients are in a certain dish, but the fact that when it comes to splitting the bill “evenly”, I always, and I mean always, have to speak up so I don’t severely overpay or subsidize other people’s expensive meat-centered meals, sodas/alcohol, and the appetizers and desserts I can’t eat. (How’s that for a sentence!)
Let me tell you, that one aspect is the biggest pain in my ass. The real kicker is that I have to explain to them that I shouldn’t have to put in $20 or $30 for my water with lemon, $6.50 meal and share of the tip. One, it makes me feel like a huge dumbass for bringing it up, and two, if I subsidized everyone else’s meal every time I went out, I’d be so beyond broke right now.
You’d think they’d understand, right? Nope. I couldn’t be so lucky. The majority of the time, I am quietly stared at or oh-so-subtlety (sometimes not so subtly) mocked. Either for “being cheap” or making a fuss, or both.
It’s gotten to the point that I’m being antisocial and not going out for group meals anymore. So, yeah… that part of being vegan sucks banana. On the other hand, if you remove people’s ignorance and raging stupidity, being vegan is the best thing since freshly-baked, whole-grain sliced bread. 😀
What’s a vegan girl to do?
You think approaching the five year mark is long haha, try being vegan fro birth, that’s a good 22 years
It is really hard, I camp a lot and I always have to tell the people who are running it that I don’t eat meat, so they have to pack something that I can eat. Sometimes they are good about it but sometimes they are just jerks. And it sucks being hungery while canoeing through a provincal park.