Tip 36: If You Can’t Say Anything Vegan: “Do You Want a Bite of my Hamburger? Hahaha.”

Posted as part of VeganMoFo (The Vegan Month of Food) 2014

When vegans are involved, things get a little tricky – for all of us. For non-vegans, that often looks like defensiveness or hostility due to the perception that vegans are telling them their food choices are unethical or wrong. For vegans, it often looks like self-righteousness and snobbery. So, I’m using the Vegan Month of Food – a month during which vegan blogs are celebrated and aggregated in one place – to teach non-vegans and vegans how to be nice to each other. If you can’t say anything vegan, don’t say anything at all.

DO YOU WANT A BITE OF MY HAMBURGER? HAHAHA.
Non-vegans, please stop saying this to vegans and vegetarians.

Why?
The number one reason not to offer vegetarians and vegans a bite of your hamburger, is that it’s not funny. It may seem funny to you, but we have heard it seventy thousand times. And it’s less funny each time. So, if you’re one of the people who says stuff like this, and you then complain that vegans are mean, you should know you made us this way. You hardened our hearts.

The second reason, and it’s a close second, is this: We think you make “jokes” (term used loosely) like this to downplay our food choices and deflect your own issues with eating meat. Yeah. We do. And you don’t want us to think that, do you? Then stop giving us reasons to. Shush, and eat your burger without bothering us.

What are some alternatives?

“Your veggie buffalo strips smell awesome!”
“Your recognition that eating meat is a choice is making me uncomfortable.”
“What’s your favorite brand of veggie burger?”
Don’t say anything at all.

Note: I asked you to choose my punishment for missing a day of posting for VeganMoFo, and you responded. But there was a tie, so I decided to do a few of the things: starting with posting a dumb picture of a (smart) vegan on each VeganMoFo post. Here’s today’s!