Why do people ask how long i've been a vegetarian?!
It's been a real pain when people don't take me seriously. I'm really passionate about this. I know what i am doing is what i need to be doing for me but i don't like how it seems that people don't take me seriously when they find out i haven't been a vegetarian for that long...
Answers: It seems that whenever i tell someone i am a vegetarian they want to know for how long.... And for some reason when it is measured in months it's as if i'm not really a real vegetarian at all. Will this go away after a couple of years when i can say " yeah, i've been a vegetarian for 5 years now. or something to that extent..
It's been a real pain when people don't take me seriously. I'm really passionate about this. I know what i am doing is what i need to be doing for me but i don't like how it seems that people don't take me seriously when they find out i haven't been a vegetarian for that long...
You don't have to feel obligated to answer. Just say "For a good while now," or something equally vague. If they keep asking, say, " My diet is personal"; " It's been so long I don't remember the last time I had or wanted meat" or even be snarky and say "Well how long have you not been a virgin?" and let them feel uncomfortable. Certainly being a new vegetarian opens you up to criticism - like people saying it's a fad, or that you'll grow up or grow out of it, or that you'll change your mind after you're "starved from meat deprivation" long enough (LMAO! Something I was told about a decade ago - well, hasn't happened yet!).
Just keep your chin up and realize that you aren't obligated to justify yourself, apologize for your lifestyle or even divulge any information if you don't want to. It's kind of like when people incessantly badger my husband with the same question, "How tall are you?" (He's 6'6). It's just embarrassing after a while - not for us but for the questioner, as if they don't have the sense to realize that the question is old to us and irritating.
They're NOSY !
by the way, how long have you been a vegetarian ?
When people ask you that, they are just making conversation. Think about it. Just because vegetarianism has enthralled you doesn't mean it holds any interest for the majority of people who are not into it. The fact that you are a vegetarian is of no more interest to them than if you were a methodist. Your best bet, if this question really is such a bother to you, is to keep your eating habits to yourself. What do you expect people to say, "So how does this affect your driving?"
Maybe they ask because they are curious. Why are people in V&V so insecure? If you're so confident that you are doing what is best for you, then act confident. If you didn't become a vegetarian to impress other people, then don't be so concerned with the reactions you get.
they are just nosy.
Ive been a vegetarian since december and people are like oh okay like I won't stick to it or something. I think people will take it more seriously after I've been one for atleast a year.
people cant believe othersssssssssss can live that long with out MEAT!!! lol
but would be better for us all if we did!!!
You could always tell them how long in minutes; who'd bother figuring it out? ;)
If you're intentionally abstaining from meat, you're vegetarian even if it's only been a day. You just have to know for yourself that it's the real deal and not worry about what other people think. You don't have to justify your diet to the curious.
People will always ask and some are merely making conversation. The ones that are inclined to not take you seriously now because it hasn't been very long have whatever issue it is that they have and it's not a reflection on you. They'll be the ones who will make some other weird comment when the answer is 5 years. They're the ones you just learn to ignore.
to start with they are not familuar with vegetarians and do not even know what one is and most of the time it is idol curisity instead of intrest perosnally for themselves.
the question usually is at this end you don't eat red meat? No
you dont eat fish? no
you dont eat chicken or poltry? no!
did i not just say that? hummmmmmmm
what is a person to do that is just the way it is then i ran across the cookbook for Vegetarian Cooking.
it used lamb and chicken and fish I through up my hands and decided i was going to be a vegan but that only worked about 2 months when i was informed that vegans had a pholosiphy not just a diet issue. so now if i have to explain to everyone that i am a vegetarian and do not eat meat any live thing then i shall give a big puzzle to them and wach their reaction I am
"Temperance Vegetarian."
I eat in moderation that which is healthful and abstain from that which is not healthful or that which is unhealthful to sustain health."
defined by me "a vegetarian with no meat, no fish no poultry or chicken" and if you want to invent a better term I am all ears and looking not only for what i am but what the expression will be on the face of the questionar will be!.
That happened to me too and it still happens. It was 'worse' in the beginning when I didn't have the length of vegetarianism to prove my dedication. People would meet me, then see me again a few weeks later and ask if I was 'still a vegetarian'. Someone thought I was being 'trendy' in college when I was really feeling compassion for animals, and I said, "Oh I must be super-trendy because I haven't had meat for 5 years!" That guy apologized. It's sad that I had to defend myself that way.
It will be 12 years next month since I gave up meat! Also, i've become vegan in the meanwhile. :-D I'm looking forward to having been vegetarian for 20 years, and 30 years, etc...
Lots of vegans and vegetarians will ask each other the same question, but I guess it's a different vibe from them.
I honestly think people think vegetarians will all keel over and die after a certain period of time, which is why they always seemed so shocked when you tell them "several years"...
hey - dont care what they say -your trying, and thats what matters.
i, myself have done it for months.... and still am.
and i know what you mean, but hey -i dont care because i know im doin a good thing - which makes me feel good :)
Just answer "for a while"
and if they're REALLY nosey, they'll ask again, "how long?" and you can say "well I've saved about 90 lives already"
Good for you, and don't care what other people say.
people want to know because there are alot of people becoming vegetarian to be cool as it would seem and they think if you have only been a veggie for aouple of months..they will say..it wasnt really ur choice since you were an omnivore for the years b4 that.....its just a stigma that has sticked unfortunately...personally im an omnivore and couldnt care less how long you have been a vegetarian...but thats just me
oh and to the extremly immature bunch of vegetarians going around deleting account of people who have done nothing rong except not agree with you.....grow up. it will only prove our point if you kepp spreading crap then deleting honest peoples accounts like ours.