<h1>The challenge of being Vegetarian in social situations.</h1>

"You don’t eat meat? How about some chicken, then?” I’ve heard this offer many times from relatives, friends, and wait staff, always given with the best of intentions. As a vegan, it’s often hard to communicate my dietary restrictions, but more difficult is conveying why I choose this lifestyle without insulting people in social situations.

I decided to become vegetarian at age 11. My parents adjusted to the idea fairly quickly. However, I recall many childhood nights at friends’ houses, watching TV in one room, while in the adjoining kitchen, a mom sautéed hamburger or boiled some hotdogs. As the smells of cooking flesh would waft toward me, I’d start formulating explanations for my refusal of the inevitable dinner offering. “No thanks, I don’t eat animals,” was usually all I’d muster. With concern, the chef would always offer some alternative, usually chicken or fish, apparently not classifying these as animals. Walking home hungry, I’d wonder, “Did I sound ungrateful? Was she insulted? Does she get it?” Even then, I realized I was making some sort of social faux-pas.

Since childhood, I’ve been through it all – weddings, dinner parties, funerals – always trying not to insult my hosts by refusing food. These events have given me opportunity to explain my choice in many different ways. And it’s gotten easier. Over the past 10 years, numerous health, environmental, and ethical arguments for a vegetable-based diet have been widely accepted. I’ve argued them all, and for the most part my omnivore inquisitors see my point. However, I am most often met with resistance when I explain, first and foremost, I feel it’s morally wrong to eat animals. Is this explanation not valid? Do people feel judged, preached to, or insulted? I walk a fine line between expressing myself and sounding self-righteous. Simply put, where most see “meat,” I see an animal, and cannot bring myself to be a part of its death and consumption. But I’ve learned when it is and is not appropriate to say this (RE: not at the dinner table). People may not understand, but I’ll continue to pass on the chicken.