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An Objection

Food related adventures and I are no strangers. For one, I'm not opposed to eating things like deep-fried spiders or frog ovaries, so I always have interesting culinary stories to relate. Also, and on an even more amusing note, I seem to run into people-related issues with my food. Sometimes, I have a hard time ordering food and drink, and sometimes, I make sticking with my self-imposed dietary restrictions harder.

Well, I have recently discovered a new item for that latter category.

I still try to eat vegetarian meals when I can, since it's usually a good thing all the way around. I also really dislike the idea of imposing my diet on other people, so I prefer to do so when I can order an individual entree for myself. Generally, that means that the best time to do this is when I go out to eat, since restaurants specifically let everyone order their own dish. I order my veggie meal, other people order whatever they like, and everyone has a nice meal. Kind of hard to mess that up, no?

Not for me. Since I have moved offices, I have been able to hang out with my friends who work in the new office. And amongst these friends, I have one who is an unabashed carnivore. She doesn't just like meat, she detests the idea of not eating meat. She's the kind of person who thinks that it's not a meal unless something on her plate used to be moving. If you've ever heard someone say, "that's not food, that's my food's food," then you have an idea of this person's mentality.

So, she doesn't like it if other people, myself included, eat vegetarian meals in her presence. Truth be told, it's not like she's going to stab me over broccoli, but my vegetarian plan is specifically geared towards avoiding food-related drama. I figure if I can humor the folks who want to eat meat, it's not that big a deal to humor the folks who want me to eat meat. I can also account for this fairly easily given my "two veggie meals per week" plan, since I can just swap out the veggie meal to another day (this is what is called good design, boys and girls. My plan is awesome). Besides, I like a hamburger about as much as the next person, so it's not like I have a problem eating this way.

However, there are two minor problems with this. First, she is my friend, so it's not uncommon for me to have lunch with her. I don't see her quite as often as the folks I used to have Friday lunches with, but it's often enough that there is a non-trivial effect on my diet. This ends up limiting the number of opportunities I have for vegetarian meals. If I were far stricter about my diet, I would be stressing about meeting my quota on the weeks on which I hang out with this person.

Secondly, I once made the mistake of pointing out that a restaurant had a large selection of vegetarian dishes. I'm not quite sure that the way she said the word "ugh" can completely be described in words. There was a combination of making a face, making a sound, saying the word, and expressing distaste that all sort of rolled into a two second span. She was not amused. What's worse, because I said something about it, she actually knows to look for it now. I'm not going to sneakily order "tofu" anything around her anytime soon.

All in all, it's not a huge deal. I can still eat the way I want if I want to, and it's not like I'm going to stop being friends with this person over Brussels sprouts. Still, I think it's funny that someone is going to be watching my order like a hawk. Let's just say that I get a chuckle out of the vegetarian section of the menu on those days.

Of course, me being me, I am also very tempted to suggest restaurant choices where I can ask for foods that lack meat but don't make this fact obvious. Spanakopita, anyone?
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