ok ok, we get it - YOU'RE VEGAN!!!

being vegan is a huge part of my life, so naturally i talk about it.  i'm sure i talk about it often, and i get the sense that some people feel i talk about it more than they would like to hear.  i'm not doing it to be annoying, just as i didn't go vegan simply to annoy everyone around me.  sure, when i'm eating anywhere but home i feel like i'm an inconvenience to waiters, cashiers, friends and family members in their homes...as well as anyone else who happens to be dining out with me b/c i ask a lot of questions, and my order is usually a long one with many specifics.  but i think it's the talking about being vegan when i'm NOT eating that bothers some people the most.  and it bothers me that they are bothered.


so why do some people seem to be bothered when i mention that i'm vegan?  is it really because i talk about it too much?  it's not like it is something i deal with just a few times a month...it's a lifestyle and it's something that is part of my every-day, several-times-a-day life. if i talk about it a lot, it's not because i'm intentionally trying to bother people, nor is it because i think i'm better than them, and it's certainly not because i think i'm going to convince them to change their own lifestyle.  i talk about it because at any given point during my day, i'm within 2½ hours of food consumption, and if i'm doing it anywhere but my own home, it's usually a problem for me.  but that's not the only reason.


i REALLY love food.  i always have.  i get this from my dad; he is the biggest foodie i know.  he talks about food all day long, loves to enjoy flavors, gives food as gifts...heck, he finishes one meal and when everyone else is too full to think about ever eating again, he's already discussing tomorrow night's dinner.  he just loves to taste and eat things.  and actually, before we started utilizing our cookbooks so much, i was a little sad because i wasn't enjoying food as much as a vegan, as i had before.  but lucky for me, with our new recipes we've been trying i've been having SO many more of those "OMG, mmmmMMMMM!" moments, which makes me even happier.  loving food so much again makes me want to talk about my veganism even more.  and of course when i tell someone i ate pancakes this morning, i use the V word...not to shove it down anyone's throat, but b/c i have gotten the "but pancakes aren't vegan!!!!" comment (not necessarily about pancakes, but about other veganized foods i've eaten) so often, forcing me into further explanation that it's just easier to tell people upfront that yes, i used a recipe which excluded all animal product.  of course then people think i used something processed and they think i'm eating "chemicals"...so then i still have to defend my food and list every ingredient i used to cook my vegan meal, and by the end of the conversation i've had to explain my food to death and the person i'm explaining to probably walks away thinking even more than they had before, "we get it - YOU'RE VEGAN!"


i also happen to talk a lot in general, which is another reason my veggie head ways comes up so much...the talking a lot i get from both parents, and it can be a blessing but more often it's a curse.  i find myself getting so excited when i'm talking to certain people, that i start interrupting.  it's been getting worse, and is something i've been trying to work on.  i don't do it b/c i think what i have to say is more important than what they are saying; i do it when i really like and enjoy talking with the person...it's like i'm too excited to share every thought in my head, and i interrupt and talk over which is SO very rude.  it's something about myself i am trying to fix.  but i do believe this is just another reason that i talk about the veg thing so much...b/c i'm just a big blabber face (as you can see in this very blog).


but the people who know me should already know that i talk too much, that i love food, etc.  so why do i still get the feeling it annoys some of them when i talk about my being vegan?  is it because i eat differently than they do?  let's consider this for a moment, and look at the elements of typical conversation between friends and families.  we talk about things like our careers, parenting styles, enjoyment of movies and television shows, etc.  i have a very different job than most people, but i can talk about that without annoying anyone.  i don't have children of my own, but i don't get offended or annoyed when people talk about their children (i guess that's different though, as i love their children).  tv and movies - we can discuss shows/films we've both seen and others that we haven't both seen, and still enjoy the conversation.  i am just trying to understand why when i bring up the V word, i can sense people stiffen-up.


it seems to me that people feel this way whenever someone else talks about taking care of their bodies.  we've all heard and maybe even used labels like "gym freak" and "health nut".  why are people nuts and freaks for caring about their bodies?  i think it has to do with the talking.  people who go to the gym or eat healthy feel so good, they can't help talking about it all the time.  but other people who don't do those things just don't want to hear about it.


vegans have gotten a bad rap.  it's not just in my own personal experience; if you google vegan haters, you'll find a lot of hate out there!  people call vegans "preachy" and label us as arrogant.  i'm not arrogant...i'm just really happy about the way i eat.  i don't look down on anyone else for the way they eat, and i KNOW that anyone who really knows me would never suspect that i do...and yet it still bothers people.


i JUST NOW found a video, having done the google search above myself...and i think this guy is onto something...


http://www.gypsybandito.com/why-people-hate-vegans/

it can't just be about the fact that i talk about food so much.  my dad talks about food all the time, and we poke fun at him for it since he does it more than any other person in the world...but no one seems to get annoyed by it, the way i feel people get annoyed at me.  there has to be more to the story, here.


in the movie "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World", there is a scene which seems to make fun of vegans, when really it pokes fun at people who have that image of vegans as being high-and-mighty.  i had a good laugh for both reasons...at first, when i thought it was making fun of me i laughed (quite a bit) and then half way through i laughed even more when i realized the humor in the idea that people would actually think this way about someone like me.  i laugh at the websites of vegan haters...b/c they are labeling me without ever meeting me, assuming i think i'm better than them, and that any minute i'll be preaching door-to-door with my vegan bible...oops...i mean cookbook, of course.


i guess the point i'm trying to make in this VERY LONG blog post, is that i don't eat the way i do to annoy people, nor is that my reasoning for talking about it so much.  i just love it, and it makes me feel good physically which makes me happy and i like talking about things that make me happy!  so please, if you are one of those lucky people who gets to talk to me often, try to understand that when i discuss my food intake, it is because it is part of my life, and i enjoy sharing my life with you...and nothing more.