Vegetarianism 101

I have been vegetarian the entire quarter of a century of my existence, but I never did think it was a big deal till the last few years in this country. It is pretty tough to find vegetarian food when eating outside in this country. And as a consultant I am always on the road and eating out. But that is not so much a problem as is the attitude of people. Most of the members of the meat eating fraternity react in different ways to my being a vegetarian.

A good number of them immediately feel sorry for me giving me pitiful looks as if I was suffering from a terminal disease. Others are more thoughtful and try to counter argue their case versus mine (even when I have made no argument); saying things like 'you do eat plants and they are living creatures too'. Still others are just plain ignorant to the fact that there exist people in this world who can survive without eating meat. Their reaction is usually raised eyebrows followed by a barrage of stupid questions.

There are certain things to be understood. I am not forced to be a vegetarian by religion (I dont think Hinduism forces people for anything). Sure it was a habit inculcated while growing up but so many of my friends who grew up vegetarian started eating meat as soon as they were in college. I could have too but to be honest meat grosses me out - always has. I am 25 and living all by myself today so I believe I am a vegetarian out of choice; please treat me the same as you would treat someone who chose not to eat say tomatoes (hint hint!). I can't possibly explain this to every person who shares a lunch table with me. I just smile as I tell them I am a vegetarian and wait for their reaction!

Here are some of the interesting comments/questions I have heard from people on hearing that I am vegetarian...

"So what do you eat?"
"You do know that the meat sandwich is the same price" (concerned cashier before charging me for a veggie sandwich)
"Will you eat the rice if I take out the meat pieces?" (BTW the answer is 'No,I'll order my own')
"So where do you get your proteins from?"
"Does that mean no chicken/pepperoni/sausage/....?" (Yea, genius)
"I bet your ancestors were poor hunters" ("No smartass, they actually just hunted your ancestors for sport!")
"So do you kiss people who eat meat?" (depends on what they look like)
"Now why would you do that to yourself?" (masochism maybe!?)
"Have you ever tried Butter Chicken?"
"So what would you eat if you were on Survivor?"