A Strange Thing About Being A Vegetarian

by Darren

I became a “strict vegetarian” a few years ago, and I’ve been very happy with my decision. I made the choice for myself, and my health, and I found the change to be incredibly easy. Now, I understand that this won’t be the case for everyone, and I can’t imagine the trend catching on with too many people. There are estimated to be over one million vegetarians in the US, but that still leaves around 300,000,000 people who aren’t!

If you visit certain websites promoting vegetarianism on the internet, they make claims about the adoption of the practice and cite proof such as the fact that Burger King offers a “veggie-burger” and now soy is available at most grocery stores. This might give some anecdotal comfort to the idea that the lifestyle is really taking off, but I’ve found a much different reaction when the subject is brought up around the “average person.”

First off, I’m not the type of person to randomly reveal much about myself to people. I don’t loudly proclaim that I’ve quit smoking, quit drinking, stopped watching TV, and given up eating meat. To me, even mentioning it could come across as preachy, and I feel that preaching is best left for churches (that way I’ll never have to hear it). However, invariably the topic of diet comes up in certain conversations and I tell the person I’m vegetarian, and almost without variance I hear the following response.

“Oh. I could NEVER do that. I could NEVER give up my meat.”

And every time I hear this I’m baffled, for the following reasons. 1) Of course you could give up meat, because people can do anything they set their minds to. 2) The fact of most people’s diet is largely tradition, cultural influence, and primarily habit. If you haven’t tried doing something, how can you say it couldn’t happen with such seeming confidence.

So there you have it. A strange thing that’s been happening to me since I became a vegetarian. Random people blurting out their mantra of lack of ability to try something different and their willingness to remain ignorant of the subject, without even giving it a try. Oh well, I think, whenever I hear it, someday their minds might just open up and they might give it a try. In the meantime, it just means there will be more lettuce for me.