Go Vegan 4: The Butcher

July 25, 2003

This is the 4th chapter in my Go Vegan series. The last two

of my Go Vegan stories have been very fun and light hearted, but in

this essay I will take on a more serious role. In my previous

stories, I have discussed some of the obstacles I have experienced

along the vegan journey. Most of these problems have been food or

clothing related. Although difficult at the time, once a solution

was found the problem went away. However, there a big obstacle that

is still on going- The Butcher.

A have a good friend whose roommate is a supermarket

butcher. The roommate is a pretty good acquaintance of mine as well.

Before I went vegan, I didn't let his profession bother me; however,

now things have changed. If you have read my previous Go Vegan

stories, you know that my original first step towards going vegan

was getting involved in animal rights. These stories are about going

vegan, not about animal rights; however, for those reading this that

are not familiar with the way animals are really treated on farms,

you are in for a shock. Do not be fooled by the image the farming

industry portrays; learn how the animals are really cared for. I

thought I knew. I thought I understood how bad off the animals were

before I studied it. I found it to be far worse than I could have

possibly imagined. Go to the animal rights groups' websites, get the

facts, see the photos, and feel the pain.

Studying animal rights and animal abuse has given me a new

outlook on meat eating. I used to have an " I won't tell you what to

eat, and you don't tell me what to eat " attitude. Now, I find that

meat eating and meat eaters disgust me. I cannot see someone eating

meat without visualizing animals getting killed. Scenes of sick,

bloodied, and tortured animals dance in my head with every bite.

Every time they tear a piece of meat off of the bone, I see an image

of flesh being pulled off of a live animal. Furthermore, I feel

sorry for the person eating the meat, for most do not even

understand what a tragedy they are causing.

I also have found that I cannot help but feel that anyone

associated with the industry responsible for this injustice is

guilty of a crime. The farming concern spreads lies, and it lobbies

congress to support those lies. They make millions killing animals

every year. In the long run though, they pay their debts whether

they realize it or not. Every front has a back, and the bigger the

front- the bigger the back.

The last time I saw The Butcher, a battle began inside. I

immediately got very vivid images in my head of cows being

slaughtered. He stuck out his hand to shake mine, and I felt myself

hesitate. Here he was, a friend of mine, and I had a hard time even

shaking his hand. When I finally did shake it, I kept hearing a

voice in my head that said " Killer killer killer " over and over

again.

We sat in his living room- a group of 7 or 8 people just

talking. This is where I had one of my biggest challenges of being

vegan so far. The Butcher started talking about his work. He went

into detail about how he had " dissected 20 cows that day. "

Immediately images of stripped down cows hanging by their feet

entered my head. I began to feel nauseous, and I struggled with

what to do next. Do I speak up and say something? I was scared to

risk it. I would most likely be facing a barrage of jokes, insults,

and rude comments from the others in the room.

We like to pick on each other, and we give each other a hard

time quite often. However, there are some subjects that are usually

off limits. We certainly would not pick on each other about

religious beliefs for instance. What they do not understand is that

to me this falls into that category. This is my religion, or at

least the closest thing I have to one. I could have attempted to

explain that to them, but most likely that would have just opened

the wisecrack floodgates. I ended up not saying anything. Instead, I

sat there wondering how to handle this type of situation in the

future.

It would be so easy to just hate The Butcher. Just loathe

him for what he does for a living. That would solve the issue. The

problem is that he is really a nice guy. He is a hard-working man,

who loves his job, his union, and his profession. He sees nothing

wrong with what he does for a living; in fact he is proud of it. To

him, he is providing a service, just like the produce person, or the

bakery person. He is also really friendly to everyone, and he is the

kind of guy everyone gets along with. He is honest, trustworthy, and

spends a lot of time with his family. It is hard not to like a guy

like that.

In addition, we get along really well, which makes all of

this even harder. I could attempt to talk to him about my views, but

what good would it do? He is not about to change careers. Plus, just

because I think I am correct does not give me permission to force my

beliefs onto him. Religious people think that they are right too,

but I certainly do not like it when they try and push their

religious beliefs on me.

So now you can see my dilemma. I am torn between liking him

as a friend, and hating him as a butcher. I am really unsure how to

proceed at this point. This is so much harder than just getting used

to not eating a particular food, like cheese or ice cream, and it

has been rough on me.

Sorry, no quotes, no jokes, no smiles, only conflict.

July 25, 2003

Eric

I can imagine how difficult this situation is for you. I don't think there is anything you can do really. If you withdrew from the circle you would only lose friends. It may be worth asking him not to talk so much about his job as you find it distasteful. Then, all you can do is feel that you are behaving well by not being nasty to him - after all - if you were nasty - would it change him? I think not.

Good luck

Jo

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July 25, 2003

wow,

I'm kinda going through a similar situation, except its with my mother.

She is a meat wrapper at a grocery store, She doesnt really like her job but she sais it pays the bills. I have also seen the videos and pictures, I can't sleep at night because of what I have seen.

The videos keep playing over and over again in my mind.

Its a tough situation to be in and its hard to get along with people who are in anyway working for the industry or supporting it.

Eric <tekmnd wrote:

This is the 4th chapter in my Go Vegan series. The last two of my Go Vegan stories have been very fun and light hearted, but in this essay I will take on a more serious role. In my previous stories, I have discussed some of the obstacles I have experienced along the vegan journey. Most of these problems have been food or clothing related. Although difficult at the time, once a solution was found the problem went away. However, there a big obstacle that is still on going- The Butcher. A have a good friend whose roommate is a supermarket butcher. The roommate is a pretty good acquaintance of mine as well. Before I went vegan, I didn't let his profession bother me; however, now things have changed. If you have read my previous Go Vegan stories, you know that my original first step towards going vegan was getting involved in

animal rights. These stories are about going vegan, not about animal rights; however, for those reading this that are not familiar with the way animals are really treated on farms, you are in for a shock. Do not be fooled by the image the farming industry portrays; learn how the animals are really cared for. I thought I knew. I thought I understood how bad off the animals were before I studied it. I found it to be far worse than I could have possibly imagined. Go to the animal rights groups' websites, get the facts, see the photos, and feel the pain. Studying animal rights and animal abuse has given me a new outlook on meat eating. I used to have an "I won't tell you what to eat, and you don't tell me what to eat" attitude. Now, I find that meat eating and meat eaters disgust me. I cannot see someone eating meat without visualizing animals getting killed. Scenes of sick, bloodied, and tortured animals dance in my head with

every bite. Every time they tear a piece of meat off of the bone, I see an image of flesh being pulled off of a live animal. Furthermore, I feel sorry for the person eating the meat, for most do not even understand what a tragedy they are causing. I also have found that I cannot help but feel that anyone associated with the industry responsible for this injustice is guilty of a crime. The farming concern spreads lies, and it lobbies congress to support those lies. They make millions killing animals every year. In the long run though, they pay their debts whether they realize it or not. Every front has a back, and the bigger the front- the bigger the back. The last time I saw The Butcher, a battle began inside. I immediately got very vivid images in my head of cows being slaughtered. He stuck out his hand to shake mine, and I felt myself hesitate. Here he was, a friend of mine, and I had a hard time even shaking his

hand. When I finally did shake it, I kept hearing a voice in my head that said "Killer killer killer" over and over again.We sat in his living room- a group of 7 or 8 people just talking. This is where I had one of my biggest challenges of being vegan so far. The Butcher started talking about his work. He went into detail about how he had "dissected 20 cows that day." Immediately images of stripped down cows hanging by their feet entered my head. I began to feel nauseous, and I struggled with what to do next. Do I speak up and say something? I was scared to risk it. I would most likely be facing a barrage of jokes, insults, and rude comments from the others in the room. We like to pick on each other, and we give each other a hard time quite often. However, there are some subjects that are usually off limits. We certainly would not pick on each other about religious beliefs for instance. What they do not understand is that

to me this falls into that category. This is my religion, or at least the closest thing I have to one. I could have attempted to explain that to them, but most likely that would have just opened the wisecrack floodgates. I ended up not saying anything. Instead, I sat there wondering how to handle this type of situation in the future.It would be so easy to just hate The Butcher. Just loathe him for what he does for a living. That would solve the issue. The problem is that he is really a nice guy. He is a hard-working man, who loves his job, his union, and his profession. He sees nothing wrong with what he does for a living; in fact he is proud of it. To him, he is providing a service, just like the produce person, or the bakery person. He is also really friendly to everyone, and he is the kind of guy everyone gets along with. He is honest, trustworthy, and spends a lot of time with his family. It is hard not to like a guy

like that.In addition, we get along really well, which makes all of this even harder. I could attempt to talk to him about my views, but what good would it do? He is not about to change careers. Plus, just because I think I am correct does not give me permission to force my beliefs onto him. Religious people think that they are right too, but I certainly do not like it when they try and push their religious beliefs on me.So now you can see my dilemma. I am torn between liking him as a friend, and hating him as a butcher. I am really unsure how to proceed at this point. This is so much harder than just getting used to not eating a particular food, like cheese or ice cream, and it has been rough on me.Sorry, no quotes, no jokes, no smiles, only conflict.

July 26, 2003

The best advice I can think of is to get him alone and simply tell him that you are uncomfortable with him talking about his work around you and would he please try not to when you're there. If he really is such a good person he should be able to put your feelings above his urge to talk about his work, when around you. In my opinion, to talk about something, when you know it makes a person uncomfortable, and you don't have to, is extremely inconsiderate, even cruel. It could be considered verbal abuse.

Take care,

Tammy

-

Eric

Friday, July 25, 2003 4:05 AM

Go Vegan 4: The Butcher

This is the 4th chapter in my Go Vegan series. The last two of my Go Vegan stories have been very fun and light hearted, but in this essay I will take on a more serious role. In my previous stories, I have discussed some of the obstacles I have experienced along the vegan journey. Most of these problems have been food or clothing related. Although difficult at the time, once a solution was found the problem went away. However, there a big obstacle that is still on going- The Butcher. A have a good friend whose roommate is a supermarket butcher. The roommate is a pretty good acquaintance of mine as well. Before I went vegan, I didn't let his profession bother me; however, now things have changed. If you have read my previous Go Vegan stories, you know that my original first step towards going vegan was getting involved in animal rights. These stories are about going vegan, not about animal rights; however, for those reading this that are not familiar with the way animals are really treated on farms, you are in for a shock. Do not be fooled by the image the farming industry portrays; learn how the animals are really cared for. I thought I knew. I thought I understood how bad off the animals were before I studied it. I found it to be far worse than I could have possibly imagined. Go to the animal rights groups' websites, get the facts, see the photos, and feel the pain. Studying animal rights and animal abuse has given me a new outlook on meat eating. I used to have an "I won't tell you what to eat, and you don't tell me what to eat" attitude. Now, I find that meat eating and meat eaters disgust me. I cannot see someone eating meat without visualizing animals getting killed. Scenes of sick, bloodied, and tortured animals dance in my head with every bite. Every time they tear a piece of meat off of the bone, I see an image of flesh being pulled off of a live animal. Furthermore, I feel sorry for the person eating the meat, for most do not even understand what a tragedy they are causing. I also have found that I cannot help but feel that anyone associated with the industry responsible for this injustice is guilty of a crime. The farming concern spreads lies, and it lobbies congress to support those lies. They make millions killing animals every year. In the long run though, they pay their debts whether they realize it or not. Every front has a back, and the bigger the front- the bigger the back. The last time I saw The Butcher, a battle began inside. I immediately got very vivid images in my head of cows being slaughtered. He stuck out his hand to shake mine, and I felt myself hesitate. Here he was, a friend of mine, and I had a hard time even shaking his hand. When I finally did shake it, I kept hearing a voice in my head that said "Killer killer killer" over and over again. We sat in his living room- a group of 7 or 8 people just talking. This is where I had one of my biggest challenges of being vegan so far. The Butcher started talking about his work. He went into detail about how he had "dissected 20 cows that day." Immediately images of stripped down cows hanging by their feet entered my head. I began to feel nauseous, and I struggled with what to do next. Do I speak up and say something? I was scared to risk it. I would most likely be facing a barrage of jokes, insults, and rude comments from the others in the room. We like to pick on each other, and we give each other a hard time quite often. However, there are some subjects that are usually off limits. We certainly would not pick on each other about religious beliefs for instance. What they do not understand is that to me this falls into that category. This is my religion, or at least the closest thing I have to one. I could have attempted to explain that to them, but most likely that would have just opened the wisecrack floodgates. I ended up not saying anything. Instead, I sat there wondering how to handle this type of situation in the future. It would be so easy to just hate The Butcher. Just loathe him for what he does for a living. That would solve the issue. The problem is that he is really a nice guy. He is a hard-working man, who loves his job, his union, and his profession. He sees nothing wrong with what he does for a living; in fact he is proud of it. To him, he is providing a service, just like the produce person, or the bakery person. He is also really friendly to everyone, and he is the kind of guy everyone gets along with. He is honest, trustworthy, and spends a lot of time with his family. It is hard not to like a guy like that. In addition, we get along really well, which makes all of this even harder. I could attempt to talk to him about my views, but what good would it do? He is not about to change careers. Plus, just because I think I am correct does not give me permission to force my beliefs onto him. Religious people think that they are right too, but I certainly do not like it when they try and push their religious beliefs on me. So now you can see my dilemma. I am torn between liking him as a friend, and hating him as a butcher. I am really unsure how to proceed at this point. This is so much harder than just getting used to not eating a particular food, like cheese or ice cream, and it has been rough on me.Sorry, no quotes, no jokes, no smiles, only conflict.To send an email to -

July 26, 2003

I agree with Tammy. I mean if this friend of yours has any amount of respect for you, he should understand where you're comming from & avoid that particular subject when you're around. So talk to him about it & if he doesn't seem to stop, maybe he isn't quite the person you thought.

Lots of Love,

Sam

Tammy <kittytooo wrote:

The best advice I can think of is to get him alone and simply tell him that you are uncomfortable with him talking about his work around you and would he please try not to when you're there. If he really is such a good person he should be able to put your feelings above his urge to talk about his work, when around you. In my opinion, to talk about something, when you know it makes a person uncomfortable, and you don't have to, is extremely inconsiderate, even cruel. It could be considered verbal abuse.

Take care,

Tammy

-

Eric

Friday, July 25, 2003 4:05 AM

Go Vegan 4: The Butcher

This is the 4th chapter in my Go Vegan series. The last two of my Go Vegan stories have been very fun and light hearted, but in this essay I will take on a more serious role. In my previous stories, I have discussed some of the obstacles I have experienced along the vegan journey. Most of these problems have been food or clothing related. Although difficult at the time, once a solution was found the problem went away. However, there a big obstacle that is still on going- The Butcher. A have a good friend whose roommate is a supermarket butcher. The roommate is a pretty good acquaintance of mine as well. Before I went vegan, I didn't let his profession bother me; however, now things have changed. If you have read my previous Go Vegan stories, you know that my original first step towards going vegan was getting involved in animal rights. These

stories are about going vegan, not about animal rights; however, for those reading this that are not familiar with the way animals are really treated on farms, you are in for a shock. Do not be fooled by the image the farming industry portrays; learn how the animals are really cared for. I thought I knew. I thought I understood how bad off the animals were before I studied it. I found it to be far worse than I could have possibly imagined. Go to the animal rights groups' websites, get the facts, see the photos, and feel the pain. Studying animal rights and animal abuse has given me a new outlook on meat eating. I used to have an "I won't tell you what to eat, and you don't tell me what to eat" attitude. Now, I find that meat eating and meat eaters disgust me. I cannot see someone eating meat without visualizing animals getting killed. Scenes of sick, bloodied, and tortured animals dance in my head

with every bite. Every time they tear a piece of meat off of the bone, I see an image of flesh being pulled off of a live animal. Furthermore, I feel sorry for the person eating the meat, for most do not even understand what a tragedy they are causing. I also have found that I cannot help but feel that anyone associated with the industry responsible for this injustice is guilty of a crime. The farming concern spreads lies, and it lobbies congress to support those lies. They make millions killing animals every year. In the long run though, they pay their debts whether they realize it or not. Every front has a back, and the bigger the front- the bigger the back. The last time I saw The Butcher, a battle began inside. I immediately got very vivid images in my head of cows being slaughtered. He stuck out his hand to shake mine, and I felt myself hesitate. Here he

was, a friend of mine, and I had a hard time even shaking his hand. When I finally did shake it, I kept hearing a voice in my head that said "Killer killer killer" over and over again. We sat in his living room- a group of 7 or 8 people just talking. This is where I had one of my biggest challenges of being vegan so far. The Butcher started talking about his work. He went into detail about how he had "dissected 20 cows that day." Immediately images of stripped down cows hanging by their feet entered my head. I began to feel nauseous, and I struggled with what to do next. Do I speak up and say something? I was scared to risk it. I would most likely be facing a barrage of jokes, insults, and rude comments from the others in the room. We like to pick on each other, and we give each other a hard time quite often. However, there are some subjects that are usually

off limits. We certainly would not pick on each other about religious beliefs for instance. What they do not understand is that to me this falls into that category. This is my religion, or at least the closest thing I have to one. I could have attempted to explain that to them, but most likely that would have just opened the wisecrack floodgates. I ended up not saying anything. Instead, I sat there wondering how to handle this type of situation in the future. It would be so easy to just hate The Butcher. Just loathe him for what he does for a living. That would solve the issue. The problem is that he is really a nice guy. He is a hard-working man, who loves his job, his union, and his profession. He sees nothing wrong with what he does for a living; in fact he is proud of it. To him, he is providing a service, just like the produce person, or the bakery person. He is also really friendly to

everyone, and he is the kind of guy everyone gets along with. He is honest, trustworthy, and spends a lot of time with his family. It is hard not to like a guy like that. In addition, we get along really well, which makes all of this even harder. I could attempt to talk to him about my views, but what good would it do? He is not about to change careers. Plus, just because I think I am correct does not give me permission to force my beliefs onto him. Religious people think that they are right too, but I certainly do not like it when they try and push their religious beliefs on me. So now you can see my dilemma. I am torn between liking him as a friend, and hating him as a butcher. I am really unsure how to proceed at this point. This is so much harder than just getting used to not eating a particular food, like cheese or ice cream, and it has been rough on

me.Sorry, no quotes, no jokes, no smiles, only conflict.To send an email to -