03.- Nothing with eyes

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My friends were telling me I would simply die. Now I realize I didn't have to convince anyone, but, as I said before, being vegetarian was like being crazy, and in a very bad way.

I was working on Cancún selling timeshare (I know, I deserve shit, if it's any consolation I did not get paid, management stole my commissions) and the topic of my food preferences would arise from time to time with clients and other salespersons, it was almost a deal breaker sometimes, you have to share a meal with someone in order to sell them thousands of dollars worth of... well to be honest just promises and a tricky binding contract in the form of a timeshare "property" so I was feeling bad enough to (on top of that) lie about something as elemental as my food choices, so from time to time I would find myself defending my "diet" in front of colleagues and clients alike. It did not last, I got out of there and moved on after I realized I was working for thieves.

Then I moved back to my hometown, were pork and chicken are a must if you want to eat something other than crackers and cookies. Even if the plate is called "steamed vegetables" it contains pieces of chicken or pork (for flavor, you know). So i had to cook at home. And I love it. Yes it is inconvenient if you are at a gathering like a party or a dinner, you always look like the picky asshole who "did not want to try whatever corpse everyone was enjoying, but "C'est la vie".

I was under the impression that if I did not judge people, they would reciprocate... I was wrong. It is pueril (childish) to believe this, the ugly truth is everyone judges you one way or the other, it is the only way humans have to survive, by judging whether the person they interact with is friend or foe. It is instinct.

So, I try not to impose my beliefs on anyone now. I leave that to the ones that are convinced their way is the only way. I believe that everyone is entitled to their opinion on anything, but that is it, from there to impose it on others... the line is blurry but still there.

Today, I make a conscious effort to not talk about my opinion about eating meat or being vegetarian, I know I will end up offending people when I call them (in other words) barbarians with no moral compass nor ethics, whom believe that their life is more important than the life of a cow, a chicken a fish or a pig, since the way I see it, no animal must die today in order for me to survive, that is it, as simple as I can explain it. So I go out of my way and justify my loved ones for being barbarians (eating corpses is in my opinion very barbaric indeed), and I tell myself that they just don't know better. And I convince myself it is not my business to go ahead and try to "let them see the light", because I understand it is only my POV, and I have no right to impose it on anyone.

And I believe that if everyone was to do this (not forcing their POVs on others) we would all be much better off, vegetarians and meat eaters alike.




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