Ahh, Cecil, the Perfect Master! I wonder how his strict diet of vegetarians is going?
Unintended humor aside, I do think it a shame that a perfectly fine rant about (the apparently increasing) rudeness in public has deteriorated, once again, into a silly food fight over what other people eat.
december replied to lesath: *’[Your] cute little quote, “If we shouldn’t eat animals, why are they made of meat?” is an excuse for cannibalism.’
It sure is. In fact, this is a line from a song about cannbalism by the great Flanders and Swann.*
Close, december! More precisely, the elder cannibal says to his rebellious son, “People have always eaten people—what else is there to eat? If the Juju had meant us not to eat people, he wouldn’t have made us of meat! [chorus, allegro] ‘I won’t eat people, I don’t eat people, I won’t eat people,’ all the day long…” Etc.
(There’s a F&S 3-CD set? Cool.)
“Cannibal” is such a harsh word…since “vegetarian = eater of vegetables”, I prefer to us the same logic and call myself a “humanitarian”.
Lesath - You make a perfectly good point in that people should not judge others on how they acquire protein. You’re a vegetarian and I’m not, it’s no big deal to me.
No… it’s not.
Some really good reasons for cannibalism might be based on religion or perhaps due to need and crisis (i.e. Donner party).
Meat is good, esecially when you serve it with other good things like roasted new potatoes and fresh steamed carrots.
Omnivorous since 1965 and proud of it.
Feynn, I think what lesath was getting at was that the question “if we shouldn’t eat animals, why are they made of meat?” is just as valid as an argument for cannibalism as it is for other, more accepted forms of meat-eating. If you’re going to say that the mere fact of something’s being made of meat justifies humans in eating it, then humans are justified in eating humans, because we’re made of meat too. Most non-vegetarians, of course, unlike the annoying evangelical-carnivore described in the OP, are smart enough to recognize that there are other issues involved, so they don’t go around asking such stupid rhetorical questions.
I say that if you want to be a vegetarian, that’s your choice. That’s the beauty of living in a free country! I eat meat–I love meat. That’s my choice. This woman sounds like an idiot who needs to MHOB. She just gets a charge out of ticking you off.
The only gripe I’ve ever had against vegetarians (some of them, that is) is that they are in our faces about being murderers and such. But you just seem like a live and let live kind of person–that I can definitely handle! 
Have to say, I’ve gotten this from both sides. I am not and never have been a vegetarian, but I do occassionally go several days without meat because I like vegees and food that just plain tastes good.
So… since I tend to heavy up on vegees for lunch sometimes… I get folks who say “I didn’t know you’re a vegetarian” or “When did you give up meat?”. Fact is, I’m not and I didn’t, I just feel like having potato soup and melon salad for lunch so scram and let me eat.
And then I get folks who freak when I sit down to a nice, juicy steak - rare (as in, just stopped twitching)- and they go “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW! You eat MEEEEEEEEEEEAT!” Uh, yeah, and your point is?
I also eat raw fish on occassion, too.
Hey, if it tastes good I don’t care if it does or doesn’t have meat. If you eat a truly varied diet then it’s almost impossible NOT to eat healthy. Folks would do better to worry about their own affairs and less about the affairs of others.
:::carefully wading in:::
And let’s not forget, for every meat-eating idiot like the one Lesath described, there is a vegetarian counterpart.
(I’m not saying any vegetarians here are idiots, of course)
I used to work with a woman who made the same type of comments…except she was the vegetarian and she was commenting on her co-worker’s lunches that contained meat.
:::wading back out:::
Considering the vile tales I hear about the food in your damn cafeteria, all the meat in there was probably Grade 4 to begin with.
By not eating it, you’re AVOIDING taking years off your life. Christian Witch, Incapable of Evil isn’t.
And, for the truly juvenile - Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions!**
- “Want some chicken with that?”
A. “Mmmmmmmmmm, salmonella.” (Homer drool)***
B. “No. Want some knuckle with your sandwich?”
- “You’re going to be anemic someday.”
A. “I’ll come visit you in the Triple Bypass Ward then.”
B. Actually, there’s only one answer to that.
- “Well, I didn’t fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian.”
A. “WOW! You took down a leopard? Cool!”
B. “Who says YOU’RE at the top of the food chain?” (lick lips menacingly)
C. “No, you fought your way to the top of the food chain to be an INCORRIGIBLE SHITHEAD.”
- “Are you allowed to eat animal crackers?”
A. “No, but I’m allowed to eat animal crackpots.” (lick lips menacingly)
- “If we shouldn’t eat animals, why are they made of meat?”
A. “For the same reason sidewalks are made of concrete. Now go gnaw on one.” (I know that doesn’t make sense, but she’s not exactly the most quick-witted person, is she?)
**DISCLAIMER – Daowajan is kidding. She is not attempting to undercut her last 5 or 6 posts, or advocating name-calling as a viable end to a conflict. If you really care, Lesath is Daowajan’s little sister, and she’s dispensing some sisterly advice (“USE THE ICE PICK, WOLFIE! THE ICE PICK!!”)
***I could swear I’ve heard Homer say this.
Hell, I’ll be equal-opportunity here, gimme a list of stupid questions militant vegetarians ask, and I’ll post some smarmy answers!
Let’s try a real-life analogy:
I like to eat my french toast without syrup, but rather with mustard on the french toast. When I was preparing that one day whilst sitting with some coworkers, one of them said to me, “Don’t do that. It’s gross!”
My response: “Look, if you don’t like your meal this way, then don’t prepare and eat it this way. I like it this way, so I shall continue this practice.”
Some folks like not eating meat, for one reason or another. That is their choice. Don’t like it? TDB.
Mustard? Yeah, that’s gross. 
So is syrup. I like jam or preserves on my French Toast. And no butter or powdered sugar, either, please.
And don’t fucking roll your eyes at me, you damn IHOP waitress. Just bring me some jam.
You might want to take a look at this train wreck. Gaspode seems to feel the need to automatically gainsay anything that is said by a vegetarian. Some folks are like that.
My stepdaughter is a vegan and she uses “can”/“can’t” in this context…“I can eat this”,“I can’t eat that”, etc.
This annoys me. Almost as much as [whiney voice] “I don’t eat anything that ever had a face” [/whiney voice]. The first time I heard this I just wanted to force-feed the bitch a handful of earthworms.
My “militant vegetarian” friend who “sometimes eats chicken” likes to pick apart everyone’s lunch as they’re eating it. Even if we’re at a nice restaurant. And she likes to end the convo with “I wouldn’t want to be in the bathroom when you shit out all that rotted flesh. It’s going to smell horrible”
Thanks babe!
But my favorite hypothetical question she ever asked was:
“Did you know that beef broth has the same chemical formula as urine?”
WHILE I WAS EATING IT.
jar
And here I’ve been wasting all that money on storebought beef broth when I could have been having it at home.
I feel deeply that more people should be vegetarians. That’s one more steak for me.
[sub]I feel the same way about gay men.[/sub]
Perhaps your hypothetical answer should be:
“Did you know you have no idea what you’re talking about?”
Urine is not a “chemical”, thus has no chemical formula. It’s a mixture of waste chemicals, primarily urea, dissolved in water. And, as far as I know, beef broth does not contain urea.
Here’s a hypothetical questions for all the vegetarians: If the FDA decided to ban the production and consumption of meat for all American citizens, would you support it? Or let’s say it was left to the voters to decide on whether or not to ban meat… would you vote “yes” in the privacy of your voting booth?
I understand this would be an extremely unlikely occurrence. I’m just playing “What if?”…