[Periadam]

I was at a school banquet for some special occasion recently, and not being a meat-eater, I ate no meat. A friend of mine made a comment about the vegetarian dishes. Then a girl across the table from me decided that she didn't know why I didn't want to eat meat, so she thought she'd ask me (I don't mind people asking me at all). I told her I simply wasn't comfortable with it, it was a personal decision of mine and I didn't care at all what anybody else did with their diet. If I cared, I'd drive myself crazy.

Unfortunately, my answer didn't satisfy this person. She proceeded to interrogate me about my eating habits. Asking why to every single answer I gave her, and generally making it known that she didn't approve of my decision as if it were some personal affront to her.

Most people aren't this bad, but having very few vegetarian friends I find it difficult to avoid having cracks made at me... even though I make a considerable effort to avoid being judgemental about other people. It's an ethical issue for me, but I can't expect everyone to share my views. I know *I* hate it when omnis badger me to "eat some meat, veggie!" so I don't imagine I'd make myself too popular by screaming "CORPSE!! CORPSE!!!!" at every meal.

I might be naive enough to find it odd that people would be so threatened by somebody else deciding they don't want to eat an animal... but I'm just curious to see if anybody on sijun has any insight as to why this may be. So why do meat-eaters find it so necessary to make jokes?
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Under communism, man exploits man. Under capitalism, it's just the opposite.

Peri.

[faustgfx]

you can't come to terms with your vegetarianism and can't crack a joke about it yourself even once? nice commitment for your ethics:)
_________________
"hey, wanna dance?"
"do i look like kevin costner to you?
"..no you don't"
"i don't dance with wolves either."

[Impaler]

It would be an understatement to say that you doing things differently than me makes me suspicious, since I'm always right, and you're wrong.

It's sort of the same reason why I have to make an ethical commitment to not eat meat like the rest of those barbarians.

Anyways, enough conjecture. Find some funny vegetarian jokes for your next dinner party, and ZING!
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QED, sort of.

[Giant Hamster]

Think about dinosaurs for a second...

carnivore
n.
A flesh-eating animal.
One who victimizes or injures others; a predator.

as apposed to you, a herbivore, that wouldn't have done much killing back in those stompy dino days.

[paranoid?]

Faust is right, your only pathetic and abnormal if you can't learn to laugh about yourself.

I have a veggie friend myself....hell he eats so much vegetables he ejaculates salad dressing.
When he's late to work I make jokes about how weak he's becoming.


all in good humor
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I touch myself only where it counts

[Giant Hamster]

paranoid: I think the point isn't laughing at yourself.

situation:

agressor: "i'm gonna kill you, fag; because you fuck butts!"

"hahah, that's great! Good one. I love a good gay joke - because I can laugh at myself too!"

but they're serious...next thing you know, you're strung up on a flagpole with blood all over your brand new pants.

All in good humor.

[faustgfx]

i didn't have a point. i just had to post something.
_________________
"hey, wanna dance?"
"do i look like kevin costner to you?
"..no you don't"
"i don't dance with wolves either."

[paranoid?]

Usualy people can make the difference between a joke and a threat or insult Hamster. Brushing off people that tries to understand you or make you feel uncomfortable with a sarcastic (or not sarcastic) joke about yourself or just that "certain thing" is the way to go. Because if you can't, then your giving them credit for being judgemental. It can even turn the conversation another way and even make the other person totaly forget.


you don't need to be an idiot to have a sense of humor.
_________________
I touch myself only where it counts

[haohmaru]

[Periadam]

I guess I might have misrepresented myself up there... I laugh at veggie jokes if they're funny, it just irritates me when they're taken too far or people are simply being unkind of the sake of being unkind.
_________________
Under communism, man exploits man. Under capitalism, it's just the opposite.

Peri.

[Novacaptain]

Well, you don't have to put up with that kinda stuff. I surely don't put up with vegan militants that pester me with their attempts to impose their non-carnivorous and "enlightened" world-view on me. I don't get pissed off or anything, but i make it clear that i do not wish ro reconsider my nutritional choices and thank them for their effort nonetheless. (and no, i don't use those exact words). Now i had never heard of people making jokes about vegetarians...that just seems odd...I wonder if people are scared that their barbacues will be outlawed or something?
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It's nice to be important, but more important to be nice - Scooter

[Giant Hamster]

"first teatherball, and now this!?"

[Jezebel]

I get that a lot as well... I don't mind people questioning me about it. I just carry on like normal usually. I don't get upset until someone actually insults me about it.

But I also crack jokes about being a vegetarian too. For instance I say my vegetarian food is made with real vegetarians, or I might say that soy is derived from horse meat because its vegetarian friendly. Or I'll make up some stupid story about how I had dreams about cows telling me stories, so I stopped eating burgers. Or maybe that I only eat human flesh - because cannibalism doesn't count. Or that I worship "seitan"... yeah, only a few vegetarians would get that joke.

You would not believe how friggin' gullible people are. You can tell almost anybody around here that tofu comes from battery acid and they'd believe you.

On occassion, if a person doesn't back off (which happens more than most people would think) I will make a wisecrack back at them.
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My Art.
My Photography.

[Samson & Friends]

Vegetarians seem to be stuck with the image that they're militant people, bent on making the world think like them. But I've found it's the opposite way around.

I've also been interrogated by meat-eating friends. Many of them seem to think that not eating meat is unnacceptable. The first time someone found out, he asked question after question:

"What about fish?"
"No."
"Chicken?"
"No."
"Crabs?"
"No."
"Oysters?"
"No."

Some people are really rude about it, and say "Why would you?" with a look on their face indicating you're a pathetic fool. But others are fine with it. If someone harrasses me enough about it I just tell them they're selfish bastards for supporting the slaughter of innocent beings to satisfy their greedy desires. Those are the ones who deserve condescension.

[SolarC]

I've been vegetarian for almost ten years and haven't encountered that kind of behavior what so ever. Ofcourse people are asking questions sometimes, but that hasn't happened in a bad manner.

[Ravandyl]

I'm a vegan myself sense I was about 11. People ask me why I don't eat meat, then they either agree but say they love meat too much to give it up, or they start telling me that humans are suppose to eat meat, would I eat meat if I was all alone in a forest and there was no veggies in sight, do I wear leather, ect. At first whenever I was asked these stupid questions (and more) I would start a "save the animals" campain. Last couple of years that stopped because I get too tired to repeat myself. Now a days I only go on campain if they eat veal.

Anyway I found that people fall into three groups, the "you're a freak veg head/hippie/carrot breath", " Me too!" or "You're a vegetarian? Cool"

[Ragnarok]

I'm not vegetarian and I think is one's personal decision. Also I try to be nice with the few vegetarians I know.
But I somehow think: They are losing some great tastes. Some of the meals I most like are the kind of food a vegetarian wouldn't eat.
Maybe that could be a reason why some people might get mad? That, and not being very clever.
_________________
"Ever forward, my darling wind." -Master Yuppa
Seigetsu

[J Bradford]

http://www.mercola.com/2002/feb/2/vegetarian.htm

Sorry I had to do it [/url]

[eyalyab]

are you a vegeterian because of ethic reasons or because you just dont like the taste of meat?
there are a few schools of vegeterians i've come to know and i dont approve of any of them but one (im not here to pick a fight, just say my opinion. you dont need my approval anyway so ignore me)
1 is the vegeterians that dont eat meat because they say it disgusts them. all that fat and mooshy-ness. they'd eat chicken and fish alright but not cattle meat. this is imho the only reasonable excuse not to eat meat.
2 there are the not so hard-core about it vegeterians. they dont eat meat or chicken, but they eat fish. that's too bizzare imho. i had a roomate that was like that. i asked here for her reason for being vegeterian and she said it wasnt ethic to eat a living creature. then i found out she eats tuna so i flipped. these school of vegis who eat some living creatures but spare the others is the weirdest thing i've seen.
3 the hard core 'i dont eat any living creature' vegeterians. well i dont have much to say here besides that cabbage has feelings too. besides while harvesting fields of crops to supply vegi food hundreds of animals are either chopped by combines, or just loose their habitat.
i have nothing against vegeterians. i have nothing against anybody. i just dont agree with some people.

a moral question to vegeterians:
here's a chicken. eat it or we kill another chicken just for you.

[SolarC]

Heh..looks like somebody has his crusade. Hope though he ruins his carreer for providing information with that attitude and adjusted facts to his own political purposes. If he even is a real doctor.

Eyalyab, I failed to notice where did you have your opinion in there. Ofcourse it could be read between the lines, but if you are really looking for a discussion in a good manner and not a fight I think you should try to write less provocatively and say straight what you think yourself and why. Or was your point just that there are vegetarians whos ethics aren't rational to you? Well one thing for sure is that people have different kinds of commitments to their ethics. And for an example eating fish sometimes might be a rational solution of some vegetable eating person to get easily some vitamins they would have hard time finding from vegetables. That can be done also, but then you have to really plan your eatings.

[Samson & Friends]

[eyalyab]

i want to edit my reply now because i realize it may have hurt some people.
im sorry. but i think editing my reply would be lame.
what i ment to say, and im not especiall good with words and especially in english is that some vegeterians ethics are all wrong. and i think that is mest up.
but why do vegeterians have to make up excuses for not eating meat saying that it is unethic. its fine by me that they just say "meat tastes like crap"
again, i apologize.

[Giant Hamster]

now comes a famous question:

"Animals eat other animals...you gonna go beat up a tiger, colliflower-power-boy?!"

So, a Wolf eats a Deer, a Croc eats a wilderbeast, a gecko eats a cricket. hell, plants eat animals.(venus fly trap, etc)

Samson: I've seen cabbage with more emotion than a cat.

Most of the vegitarians I know wear leather shoes, suprisingly. the ones that don't are full on vegansXtreme and make lanyards, don't shave their armpits, don't drink milk, or eat potatoes(they have eyes!!!!). 70% of them are lesbians(...because they don't eat meat) and I know a lot of em. I like lesbians.

I don't see how eating a plant is anymore nice than eating an animal. A plant is a living thing. It grows, it moves towards the sunlight, wraps itself all around things, they reproduce(except the banana, it shoots blanks), and it's so cute to see a mommy tomato with a bunch of little tomatos around it. and you're gonna maul it to death!?!? BASTARDS!!!!!

you know what was fun? In hong kong, durring one of the world cups they were trying to sell American's a carbonated drink like Pepsi that was made out of liquified Dog meat.

I think we should all eat rocks. Rocks don't have feelings......or do they?

[SolarC]

The whole concepts of right and wrong is a human thing, it doesn't seem to appear anywhere else in the nature. In the nature there are animals who eat other animals of a same species, there are spiders who eat their mates after pairing etc. According to your arguments, these things wouldn't be any wrong either.

Sense of morality and ethics seems to be important part of human evolution. If you look at our progress in the big time scope, humans are slowly evolving to have a greater sense of morality and responsibility of their actions. I believe this is a good thing.

[eyalyab]

totaly agree with giant hamster. but i dont want to eat a cat.

i wanted to add: what's wrong with eating some cow dammit? or some chicken. i dont mean the wild life ones but the ones that are raised for the sole purpose of being eaten. its the same thing as growing tomatoes. growing food in general. btw, there are researchs done by tree huggers that prove that trees have feelings. search google! so to me all growing things are living things. god created the human to rule the animals (check genesis, the creation).
in my opinion its more humane to kill animals that are ment to be eaten than to kill animals not for eating. so spraying crop fields kills animals (not just insects) not for the purpose of eating. its all against the JUNGLE LAW (check the jungle book story hehe).

eat meat or you will die of lack of iron and B12. i care about you.

[eyalyab]

[Giant Hamster]

"humans are slowly evolving to have a greater sense of morality and responsibility of their actions"

Not really. Rephrase: Other people pay more attention to Your actions instead of their own. Thus, when you want to dance the jiggly boogie(not sexual, just a joy of dancing) all-of-a-sudden on the train you're slapped with harassment suits, noise pollution, rudeness, several sexual prefrence stabs, and a more litteral stab in your chest with a knife. so you have to watch your ass to make sure someone else isn't uncomfortable that your pants have 3 pockets instead of 4...they might kill you. people as a mass are still the same degenerate fucks they were before, the only reason it seems any better is because they're craftier. You'll still get the same person breaking into your house in the middle of the night, tripping over something, then sueing you and winning...just this time she'll stage the fall and make it more elaborate than ever before.

the people making the rules still fuck around and fuck off all they want, but they tell you that you can't because well, they've made up the rules. It's like parents to their children: "Don't smoke. *takes a drag off of the 12 ciggarette that hour* It's bad for you." or: "Sex is dirty, and filthy, it's a sin in God's eyes." Yet them telling you that in the first place is odd since you being their child means they had sex.

That makes me think of that new commercial that's on tv. I shall revise it:

"Congratulations, Dad - Or should I say - Grandpa!"
"what the fuck did I tell you about safe sex?! You apparently didn't fucking listen, You stupid fuck."
"Neither did you, since you had me, Dad!"
"Yeah, and it was a mistake! Why couldn't you be gay or black so I'd have a legitimate reason for murdering you?"
"I HATE YOU, I'M CALLING 1-900-be-on-Jerry NOW and we'll settle this on TV like normal people!"
"FINE, I'm going to go rape and kill your mother, you asshole!"
"She's not my mom!"
"BEANS AND TARTAR SAUCE!!!! BEANS AND TARTAR SAUCE!!!!!!!"

[Samson & Friends]

[Giant Hamster]

So if I sedate the animal first to where it won't feel a thing, that'd be ok in your book?

(i'm not attacking, just pestering) =P

EDIT: I was reading the link to that page about vegitarians or whatever that the one guy posted, I found this, and had a comment:

"[Animals are] fed hormones and chemical supplements to make them grow faster or leaner, and that those substances remain in the meat that we eat."

Yes, I have noticed this rings especially true in kintergarden to highschool girls that fancy KFC...their breasts are firmer and larger - due to the reminence of growth hormones in the meat - than those in highschool who prefer home cooked meals.

[Awetopsy]