Is it Me or is it Just Meat???

     If you are a mainstream vegan like me, then I'm sure you have faced similar situations where you are dining out with family/friends at a typical restaurant with some vegan options and you have wondered...is everyone ordering a VERY meaty dish because they really want it or are they doing it just to spite you???  You might say I'm being a bit paranoid but I swear that sometimes the folks around me are deliberately ordering the meatiest dish they can find just to get a reaction from me.  Mind you, I'm not one of those outspoken, bordering on obnoxious vegans always preaching or lecturing everyone about the health risks involving red meat.  I almost NEVER extoll the virtues of a plant-based diet or remind everyone of the recent report from the World Health Organization linking red meat to cancer.  In fact, I consider myself the easiest going vegan I know!!!  I usually just go with the flow, not asking for much, happy to be in good company, hoping to find a healthy, hearty plant-based option and a nice IPA on draft or a cool and refreshing lo cal cocktail to wash it down with.  I try to stay low key and not make a big deal about the menu options (or lack thereof) or brag about the meal I choose to order.  Even when they get my order wrong, which is almost always, I try not to make it an issue!  I even go so far as to inconspicuously tell my food server that I am lactose intolerant or have specific food allergies instead of declaring myself VEGAN!  SO... why is it that those around me feel the need to turn a fun, casual get-together into a meat-centric lesson.  With so many healthier alternatives that aren't vegan/vegetarian, like fish, shellfish or even chicken breast, I have noticed that my dining companions are so obvious and go right in for the kill by choosing dishes like a huge rack of ribs or lamb, steak salad (OMG, the irony) or a gigantic rib eye!  

     Two of my three kids thoroughly enjoy red meat but I know that they do not intentionally try to get a rise out of me when we go out to eat.  It's not their fault that they have been brainwashed by the industry's false advertising as well as their crafty, manipulative way of convincing everyone that animal flesh is delicious. My kids also feel very comfortable being themselves around me without worrying about me judging them.  I do hope one day my healthy choices will rub off on them but my choice to go vegan was my own and imposing my views on them would only backfire, I'm sure. 
     When it comes to my domestic partner's adult children, however, who we visit with from time to time, I get the feeling that their intentions are different but again, I may just be imagining it.  When I observe the abundantly meaty options they choose, at every meal, no less, I cannot help but feel they are doing it to make me squirm. On top of that, the subject always turns to meat with a reference to an old family animal flesh recipe guaranteed to be thrown into the mix.  They are just waiting for my head to explode.  When I address this with my partner, he insists that the only reason they are ordering the meatiest, most expensive dishes is because he is paying!  I would bet that he's right (he always is lol). It's just that when I am with educated folks, their behavior always surprises me as we continue to learn more and more about the never-ending benefits of a plant-based diet and all the health risks involved with animal products from heart disease, cancer, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, not to mention cruelty to animals as well as the direct impact on global warming.
     So when I say it's me, my partner says it's just meat.  He tries to convince me that meat is a treat. Whatever the case may be, I will simply try and keep my cool, no matter what my dining companions directly or indirectly throw at me.  Being the butt of vegan jokes has become so old and tired, am I right???  I have evolved and it's only a matter of time before everyone else does too.  I know that's wishful thinking but I'm not giving up.  At least the word "vegan" is being thrown around a lot more, with vegan options becoming more available in mainstream restaurants not to mention dedicated vegan restaurants popping up in major cities.   Perhaps there will come a time when the world is mostly plant based with the exception of that one unenlightened, unevolved odd ball here and there asking if there are any meat options available.