That being said, I'm going to dedicate this space to share about... *drum roll* ALL THINGS VEGAN, surprise! (imagining the bf rolling his eyes when he reads this).
In all honesty though, I think I've gotten used to receiving that initial reaction from, oh I don't know, like 98% of the people I've come across whenever I share that I don't eat meat or dairy-- and that is exactly how I've been wording it, because the term 'vegan' itself seems to present somewhat of an offense. Why that is, I couldn't tell you for the life of me. Some very commonly asked questions that ensue shortly after include "but where do you get your protein? don't you crave meat sometimes? what about all the sweets and pastries, don't you miss it? what do you eat as a vegan anyway?", followed by more skeptical comments indicating that it can't possibly be healthy or good for me. Oh, not to mention that going to Korean restaurants for my native food fix isn't any less challenging, especially when the server is usually a middle-aged Korean lady who doesn't understand why I'm asking for no meat in my food. Am I sure? she asks. Am I sure that I'm sure? she asks again before walking away whilst shaking her head in bewilderment after I confirm for the umpteenth time. Well excuse me, but I'm positively sure that I don't want no chunks of carcass floating around in my soup, thank you very much!
On a related note, sometimes on a good day, I'm almost amused to see people scarf down a plate of bacon for breakfast and hear them tell me in between bites that I'm totally missing out. Right, because I want all that nitrate, oil, and fat clogging my arteries-- shall we say hello to a nice cholesterol spike?... said no vegan ever. Also, I say I'm almost amused because at first I find it funny (yes, I'm very much in my head and I entertain myself with my own thoughts like this), until I quickly come to a more serious and sad realization that this is the reason why obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other health issues are so rampant here in America: not enough people are educated well enough about the importance of nutrition, the evil ways of the meat and dairy industry, and the suffering that animals go through in so many factory farms. It truly is a shame that a great majority of people still have so little faith or interest in incorporating more veggies and fruits into the daily diet in a tasteful way. After coming back to these similar thoughts on many occasions since I've become vegan about a year ago, I've decided to make it a personal aim to help spread awareness on the benefits of conscious living (I won't even say vegan here)-- and this isn't just in terms of food choices, but also making ethical choices to be more conscious about recycling, using eco-friendly options when available, making efforts to reduce waste, and most importantly, having the willingness to learn with an open mind! Take off your meat-grease tainted lens and put on some fresh perspectives, you people! Just kidding, gotcha ;)
In all seriousness, this certainly isn't to say that from now on, I'm going to act like some of those extremely pretentious and obnoxious vegans out there-- they give the rest of us a bad rep and make people automatically assume we're freaks! What I will put a mind to, however, is to be more confident with my belief and take that to the next step by sharing information to help people better understand what it really means to be vegan. It isn't just about eating grass, pointing mean fingers at someone wearing leather boots, or screaming that you're vegan into every passersby's ears each second of the day. Nope, nope, and nope, because that is exactly how you drive people away.
In short, I think this sums it up in the best way:
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