Reply #40: Oh I know! But it's gotten a lot better. [View All]

I became a vegetarian in 1986 in Indiana. It was awful! People thought I was "being difficult" for not wanting to eat soup made with chicken broth. I got so much flack from just about everyone. People also used to say to me "Do you mind if I eat meat?" Like they expected me to lecture them or something, so they lectured me first about how unhealthy it is to be a vegetarian. People got very confrontational at meals and I ended up avoiding eating with people.

I recently moved back, and most people now are more comfortable with vegetarians. The new type of restaurant chains called "Fast Casual" have helped a lot. Places like Panera Bread specify if the soups are vegetarian, and they are getting people to wake-up.

Btw, I was working in Germany in the mid-1990's and it was even worse to be a vegetarian there! Germans put pork in EVERYTHING! And little pieces of pork don't count, so vegetables with pork "for flavor" are considered vegetarian. I ended up eating almost every meal in Italian restaurants when I was in Germany.