A Question for my Meat Eating Homies

The last time I was an Iowa, I overheard this exchange between my adult niece and Don.

Niece: So, does Laney eat meat
Don: Yeah
Niece: Good

This loses something a little in the transcription. Let's change the first two lines.

Niece: I understand that Meg has this hobby of painting swastikas on synagogues. Is Laney doing that too?
Don: No
Niece: Good

Imagine how you'd say "good" in the latter scenario. That's how she said "good" when she learned that Laney eats meat.

My brother, from time to time, lets loose with his bottomless disgust at my vegetarianism. For him, I think, vegetarianism is stupid and betrays a shallowness of thought and trendiness like if I were practicing Kaballah or trying to turn everyone onto Enya (there's probably a more current reference there, but I'm all stumped and forty).

I'm flummoxed by the passionate reaction people have to my vegetarianism. I don't get what vegetarianism means to the people who hate it. I promise I am not preachy about it. I don't look askance at you as you enjoy your steak (but I bet you do look askance at me when I decline said steak). Are meat eaters afraid that we vegetarians are slowly taking over the world and will deprive them of their god-given right to a burger?

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again, but there is as much stridency and intransigence on the meat eating side of the equation as there is on the vegetarian side. The thing is, and certainly because I am vegetarian, I get it on the veg side. Vegetarianism does more good than bad. It's better for your health, the environment and your soul (that last one is subjective and I can see how both sides could claim it). But why do the carnivores get so hot and bothered when confronted with vegetarianism? If it ain't a good meal to you unless, at some point, it walked the earth, what does my vegetarianism signify?

Carnivores and English People

In the early aughties I found myself in beautiful, historic York for a work trip.  The number of per capita drinking establishments in York makes Chicago look like Carrie Nation's wet dream. It's awesome.  Every night after work, I'd hit the pubs with my British colleagues.  The first night, someone made a joke about Americans having a world series with only one country in it.  Uproarious laughter among the Brits.  I responded (amusing no one but myself) that, to be fair, sometimes there are two countries in the World Series.  

The next night someone made the same joke.  And the next.  And the next.  And each time, the Brit making the joke was sure he was the first one to goof on an American with it. The more it was repeated, the less of its already limited punch it had.

"Look, English people," I thought, "I'm neither embarrassed or humiliated on behalf of my country (well, for the World Series thing anyway).  But your eager recitals of the same joke are kind of adorable."

Which brings me to the carnivore thing:  Over the past 10 years of my vegetarianism, I've been greeted with the "you probably need protein" joke a million times.  Usually it comes in some variation of "you don't like meat because you need protein." And hilarity ensues. It's like the World Series joke, with legumes standing in for Canada (probably not for the first time). The jokester amuses like-minded people without having any particular effect on the person he aims to disparage.  Which is fine, it's just not particularly clever. 

I thought carnivores and English people should know.  You're welcome.

Shut up and eat your steak

Ten(ish) years ago, I drove past a cow and suddenly realized that I couldn't kill her. Thus, I gave up meat. But I have no beef (heh) with the meat-eaters outside of wishing they were less pathologically determined to prove that all vegetarians are morally superior hypocrites. Look, I'm fine with the mocking of PETA, and celebrate the mocking of any political group. What makes me nuts is the ease, or downright glee, with which the meat eater conflates PETA with ALL vegetarians. And then, when the vegetarian pushback happens, the response is so often smug anger. It's really annoying.