Current mood:

disappointed

**This is primarily addressed to the members of veganism, and cross-posted there. I just wanted my own li'l copy here.**


So.

I waited about a week to post this, in order to give my brain some time to digest it and perhaps make it not-so-obvious in the case that the offender reads this community.

I've begun working at this grocery store... let's call it Hoal Füds. I work in the deli/prepared foods section. I'm the only vegan -- the only vegetarian, even -- in the entire department. I'm happy when I can help veg*ns with food information, ingredients, etcetera. I'm happy when I can drag someone who would normally heat up a chicken breast for dinner down to the veg section and get them to try a soy cutlet or tofu salad. I'm happy when I can gush with other compassionate eaters over tasty dishes, good recipes, and try this new thing!s. My co-workers are curious, and the customers are usually pretty damn cool, too.

I say usually because there are exceptions, of course. There are the typical face-scrunching omnivores that wince when they realize they've pointed to the soy chicken instead of the real chicken and immediately demand "real meat." Fine. I expect them.

The most disturbing exception I've witnessed, however, was a vegan. The only redeeeming thing I can say for the encounter is that I'm glad I was the one that she asked for help -- the omnis of the world don't need any more fuel for the "rude, whacked out vegan" stereotype, so my solace is that I can bury this in Veganland and not let it attack any outsiders.

So what happened? I was actually helping someone else near the end of the cold case in which the veg*n options are typically displayed. I'm in the midst of describing the Kung Pao Tofu, and this chick interrupts with, "Excuse me, but this sign says "Vegan." This is not vegan. It has cheese in it. And this has brown sugar in it, and that is not vegan either. They should not be in this section because they are not vegan!"

Is she right? Sure. There's a sign over this section that does, in fact, say "Vegan." I think of it as the "Hey-Veganish-People-Come-Look-Down-Here-Cause-There's-More-Stuff-For-You-To-Eat-Here-Than-Next-To-The-Gaucho-Marinated-Steak Sign". She, in all her blessed literalness, obviously didn't think that was the case.

I looked her in the eye and said, "Yes. I know. I am a vegan, too, and there are a few dishes down here that aren't vegan. These other two, for instance, have honey in them." She argued back with, "This sign says Vegan," and some more talking-not-listening; I finally resorted to just ignoring her ranting. I continued helping the customer she had butted in on, who looked (understandably) creeped out. She hemmed and hawed a bit longer down there, reading ingredient labels and looking generally pissed off, and finally left with her eyes a-rolling and her head a-shaking, as if some grave sin was being committed Right Then and she couldn't believe no one else could see it.

I sympathize with her plight; I do. I understand that our sign should probably say "Vegan and Vegetarian." I realize it's a pain in the ass when a non-vegan-something is casually lumped in with a vegan-something and it's up to the vegan to double-check their shit. I. Really. Do.

What I simply cannot bear is the thought that any of us (The Royal "We," us vegans) would presume to waltz into an environment that is positively swarming with (potentially close-minded) omnivores and presume to be so g'damn rude and dictatorial in regard to veganism. If you want to have a conversation with a manager, cool. If you're sincerely worried about the Soy Cutlet Cordon Bleu jumping into your Lemon-Herb Tofu, fine. If you want to ask with sincere curiosity if we have a strict policy about what dishes go in the Veg*n section, be my guest. But if you're just going to grab the closest employee, rant rudely about why you're right and we're wrong, and make vegans look like crazy assholes... save yourself and all the rest of us from embarrassment and keep it to yourself. I think we all need to realize that, like it or not, once the V word comes out of our mouths, we immediately become representatives for a collective group of concerned people -- and the entire movement that hinges on them.

I don't mean to be as preachy as my offensive customer (who, by the by, didn't buy anything). In the end, I suppose it's just another example of the "holier than thou" attitude that we all (I had assumed) knew to avoid. It just really irked me, though, and I wanted to share... for support or warning or maybe just a counter-rant, I'm not sure. But there it is.

Maybe I should ask for advice on how to handle such issues -- would anyone suggest responding differently than I did?

Let's stop the crazy, my vegan beauties.