Ovo-lacto-vegetarian here and now asking for a cite.
Logical fallacy: False Premise.
Ditto.
That you can’t read a dictionary, apparently. For your perusing pleasure, courtesy of our friends at M-W:
Courtesy the first:
Courtesy the second:
Courtesy the third:
So, you see, I hope, that there is a widely-recognized scale, if you will, of human masticatory customs.
Indeed, a surprising number of people I talk to believe that vegetarians eat poultry. And I live in Los Angeles where we have a fairly high number of vegans, vegan restaurants, whole foods stores etc. I think it’s safe to say that most Americans do NOT think that “vegetarian” means “no meat products.”
may be the strangest stretch of logic I’ve heard all week, congratulations. 
It’s just a fact that most of the American carnivore population (including deli workers AND waiters/waitresses, who more often than not are just trying to pay the rent and are not “professional” food mavens with a culinary degree*) have the following beliefs about vegetarianism:
Vegetarian = no meat.
Vegan = ???
They simply do not grasp all the various levels of ovo-lacto-pisco-chicken-eating vegetarians, or that broth counts as meat, or all the foods that vegans perceive as being animal products. The vegan’s proscription of honey and gelatin surprises them: “Those aren’t meat!” Mayonnaise doesn’t have meat in it, so it should be OK, right? And some vegetarians will eat eggs. Heck, even though I’m “semi-vegetarian” (eat very little meat, and red meat only about twice a year), I would still ask about ingredients before trying to prepare a vegan meal, and even double-check myself when cooking for vegetarians.
In short, YOU are the one who should be asking, if you have special dietary requirements. The poor schlub making your lunch cannot be expected to read your mind.
Why is it disgusting? Because it’s human, right? But it’s not human. It has human DNA. So what’s the difference? If it’s not quite the same kind of egg, then you shouldn’t use it to compare. Oh, but you can compare it. The chicken egg has the building blocks to create a chicken, therefore it is a pre-chicken. Milk has cow DNA but it does not have the building blocks to create a cow. Not in nature anyway.
Monty, you can’t use logic to explain the public. Do you need a cite to show something so obvious? And I’m not talking about me dagnabit. I know what a freaking vegetarian is. I know it’s not a vegan. But they guy that prepared my pita didn’t know what a vegan is, obviously. Geeze I shouldn’a ever said “vegan” in this post.
Whoops, iampunha, you got me about the forum/board thing. Big deal. I knew I would get some reaction, but can’t you guys react without resorting to calling me names? But I came in here expecting a flamefest anyway. So I could blow off some steam. Y’all’s reaction was right on target. Thanks for arguing people. I feel much better now.
Fuck that. I’m a meat eater, and I damn well know the difference between vegetarian and vegan. If I’m preparing a meal for someone who told me they were a vegetarian, I would think no more about putting an egg in it than I would using honey, cheese, and milk. However, if my vegan friend asked me to make lunch, I wouldn’t include ANY of the above products.
Quit assuming that all meat eaters are fucking idiots. If you want a vegan meal, ask for one. Don’t tell someone you’re a vegetarian and then bitch if they give you an egg.
My, my, my. As a nine year vegetarian who could really care less about what other people choose to eat, it is annoying as hell to have to deal with ‘meat eaters’ after their exposure to vegetarians who throw self righteous hissy fits.
Here’s a clue: were you a vegetarian your entire life?
sigh
Yeah, Athena. 'Cause you know the difference.
Oh, sorry I didn’t mean to imply that meat eaters are idiots.* Just the ones that prepared my pita. Apologies if you thought I was including you in this group.
*ignorance is not equal to idiocy
Your rant is all over the place.
You’re basically saying that these deli workers should assume what you want? What, you expect them to read your mind? If you are really this picky about your food, then you should either A) specify exactly what you want and don’t want in your meal instead of assuming they can read your mind or B) make your own god damn meal
No, they weren’t idiots. They thought when you said vegetarian, you meant, “no meat.” Not “no eggs.”
Get a clue, dumbass.
Let me get this straight. The OP’er knowingly gets a meal which is labeled as vegetarian. The meal actually is vegetarian. The OP’er is upset by that.
Clear-cut case of microdeckia.
Micro-whatta?
I don’t see how this is the deli people’s fault. When someone tells me they’re a vegetarian, I assume that means no meat, no poultry, probably (but not definitely) no fish. I know what a vegan is, but if you don’t tell me you’re a vegan just a vegetarian, you’re getting a nice meatless meal, and it just might be a cheese omelette.
I’m not a vegetarian (though I have a few friends who are, and one who’s vegan), but if I were, I’d be crystal clear with food service people about what I do and don’t eat. They’re just counter monkeys, after all, and I’m not going to assume that they’re good at playing guess-what’s-in-my-head.
I have omnivore friends, no red meat friends, vegetarian friends, vegetarian friends who occationally eat fish (but don’t want to sit down to a surprise fish meal, as they limit their fish to only a few times a month), vegan friends, lactose intolerant friends, friends who have gluten allergies, friends who are on limited diets due to kidney disease, friends that are diabetic, friends doing Atkins, friends that don’t eat refined sugar, friends who keep kosher, friends who only drink Pepsi and other friends who only drink Coke. (Dinner parties in my circle are challenging).
NONE of my diet limited friends are stupid enough to order a deli boxed lunch without getting clarification on exactly what is in there. If they are picky about something - for reasons related to either preference or health, they make sure to ASK. If they ASK and they don’t get what they want, they can go ahead and rant. They “assume” that people will think vegetarian means “chicken is ok” not that it means vegan. Or lactose intolerant means cheese is fine, just don’t bring me a glass of milk. Or that “I am deathly allergic to peanuts” means the chef will take that as a personal challenge to add some peanuts to prove its all in their head.
You ordered a vegetarian boxed lunch. You got a vegetarian boxed lunch. Vegetarian is NOT vegan. If you are making a VEGAN boxed lunch don’t put a hard boiled egg in it. Don’t put mayo on the sandwich. Don’t throw a butter based cookie in for dessert. Every non-vegan vegetarian I know will eat these things gladly (a few of them live off eggs, cheese and dairy).
I’m an omnivore myself. But I stay away from lunchmeat (too many nitrates), don’t want cheese on my sandwich (unnecessary fat), will skip the brownie (trying to lose some weight). Maybe since we are going for the least common denominator in boxed lunches on what EVERYONE can eat, we should just sell the box.
And despite being an omnivore, I can spot a kosher vegan meal at 50 paces. (Kosher and vegan actually work very well together, as your chances of mixing meat and dairy go down a whole lot when you are dealing with neither meat nor dairy - although my kitchen is not kosher so if you are a strict kosher vegan, you should eat before coming over).
You, in re the consumption of human eggs:
OK, this is all over the map. But really, if you think about it, there’s nothing inherently disgusting about eating a human egg. Fundamentally, it’s no different from swallowing human semen, swhich many, many female dopers admit quite freely in a different thread that they do, and enjoy doing it. I found Guin’s response a bit surprising, but maybe she’s one of those that thinks swallowing semen is disgusting too. 
In any case, if you don’t want egg, make your own damn lunch or quit bitching if someone else makes it and you don’t like it.
So what if you are vegetarian, not vegan, and you go to this deli and you want to order a vegetarian sandwich, but not a vegan sandwich, because you want the cheese and egg.
So, the deli should assume that vegetarian means vegan because they don’t know there is a difference and should therefore conform to the most restrictive of the two (even though they don’t know there is a difference between the two). However, the vegetarian, knowing what vegetarian means should understand that the deli won’t know what vegatarian means and therefore assume they will be receiving a vegan sandwich when ordering the vegetarian sandwich. Therefore they should order as such: “I want the vegetarian sandwich but since you’ll be making me a vegan one could you please add egg, cheese, and a little mayo?”
Does that about sum it up?
I really hope that the OP didn’t go off like this at the person who packed the lunch!
it’s hypersensitivity like this that gets vegs of all stripes a bad name. I have never seen it seriously claimed that the normal definition of “vegetarian” includes no-eggs. If you want no-meat-no-eggs, ask for it! I have learned to be as specific as possible, without being condescending to whoever is making my food.
Ah, the infamous box lunches…
Once upon a time, I worked at an office where we would recieve box lunches from the various reps. We had an employee there that acted a lot like prisoner6655321. He would open up the lunch and sigh rather loudly, tear the sandich apart, sigh some more, etc. He would mumble under his breath about the food being vegetarian and not vegan. It got to the point that he was taken aside from by the boss for his boorish behavior.
The fact is, it was a free lunch. If you are going to be uber picky about what you eat, take your own lunch. A lot of people at my work did and no one thought nothing of it. The fact is, not everyone knows what a vegan is. You are way out of line.
Jesh, do you throw a fit over people that take your picture with standard film,too?
Jeez, prisoner6655321, your wrath is uncalled for.
Even the time I ordered a vegetarian omelette (can you get your head around such a concept?) and, due to a language barrier, received a western omelette, with tiny bits of diced ham in it, and worse, ate some of it, not noticing the hamminess of it for a while because I was absorbed in a book, I didn’t flip about it.
Sure, I spent a minute puking in their bathroom, but I didn’t cop an attitude about it. It was just miscommunication.
Your situation is similar, except that the establishment communicated quite clearly what was on the menu. Any resulting confusion comes from your own stubborn refusal to recognize the consensus on the definition of “Vegetarian.”
It can’t be simple coincidence that you remind me of a certain celebrated anthropomorphized egg:
Careful, boyo, you’re spoiling for a fall.
(You’re welcome to throw tomatos if you don’t have any sulphurous eggs handy.)
You guys don’t realize what is going on. This is obviously yet another plot by the new Number 2 to screw with Number 6655321’s mind. Everyone on The Island has been using the term Vegan to mean Vegetarian and vice-versa. Now that Number 6655321 has changed to conform, they will all change back to the proper way.
To add insult to injury, the giant white balls are now egg shaped. I feel for you Number 6655321. Your mind is obviously gone at this point.
I am confused.
You asked for a vegetarian meal.
The meal WAS vegetarian.
You are upset because the meal was not vegan?
I don’t understand why you are upset about getting what you asked for.
If you asked for vegetarian, you DID get what you requested. If I asked for a sandwich without tomato, should I get upset if they didn’t also leave off the pickles? No, because they didn’t know that I didn’t want pickles. I didn’t request that.
If you’re concerned about popular opinion, maybe you could order something “without meat, eggs, or dairy” instead of as “vegetarian.” That way people will know what you mean AND you will actually be asking for a vegan meal.