I am a vegetarian. I do not eat chicken. I do not eat beef. I do not eat turkey and I do not eat pork. My edible limitations also include foods that have the aforementioned meats (or any other meat) in or on them. I don’t eat any of it. I just don’t.
With that being said, I get so annoyed when a meat eater comes to me and suggests I eat something that contains meat. Why would you suggest such a thing to a vegetarian? Here’s a prime example of a foolish suggestion- “Here, have some pizza [pepperoni]. Just take the pepperoni off, you’ll be ok.”
To an ignorant eater, pepperoni pizza is nothing more than cheese pizza with pepperoni on top. To a more intelligent eater like myself, pepperoni pizza is just that-- pepperoni pizza. Therefore, the removal of said pepperoni from the pizza does not magically make it cheese pizza. It is still pepperoni pizza. Simple concept…well at least to me it is.
You would not believe how many times people have told me “just take the pepperoni off” without even a second thought as to how disrespectful that is to me. Just take the pepperoni off??? Is that going to reverse the 15 minute cooking process that the pizza just went through with the pepperoni on it? No, it is not. The fact that the pizza was cooked with the pepperoni on it makes it a pepperoni pizza. So taking the pepperoni off is not going to change what type of pizza it is. It will only change the way it looks.
This goes for vegetables as well. A lot of people like to cook their green beans, greens, etc. with ham hocks, turkey necks, or other random animal body parts. I won’t eat that either. And if you sell food, don’t catch an attitude when I ask you “did you cook that with meat” prior to purchasing your veggies. Just answer my question. It’s not rocket science; all that is required is a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as an answer. Also, if I ask you about your cooking preferences, do not reply by saying “I don’t use pork products” because that is not a sufficient answer to my question. Just because you don’t use pork products does not mean that your green beans didn’t simmer in turkey juices before you put them on my plate. I’m just saying….
