Okay, there are lots of things that I have to write about, because I’ve been pretty busy lately. But for right now, I just want to rant about the last two days. At work, I float between two offices, and each has its perks and disadvantages. When I’m in the one, I’m tucked away in a corner where nobody ever sees me, but I get to listen to Vegan Freak podcasts and talk to Nick. But, you know, nobody else ever sees me. In the other office, I actually get human interaction. And while I’m not one to crave human interaction all the time, once in a while it’s nice. But half the time I can’t stand the topics of conversation I’m forced to endure (which is another rant for another place that I’ve already written, actually).

But yesterday and today? The fucking vegan inquisition. Now, I don’t mind if people ask me about being vegan. But it really depends on how you ask the questions. I swear, when one girl asked me if I eat potatoes, or rice, I was just like, “Huh? Are you serious?” Another girl rolled her eyes when I said I don’t use Clorox and those types of products because of the animal testing. And, of course, the whole “you don’t believe in animal testing for medical research?” I sat there for about fifteen minutes and tried to explain to them why animal testing for medical research is unnecessary and often inefficient. I’m pretty sure that I didn’t get through to them (judging by their inability to comprehend anything that doesn’t revolve around reality TV). “But testing saves lives!” Um, it usually doesn’t (how many animals are killed every year in medical research compared to how many human lives are saved?), but either way I don’t think a human life is of greater value than an animal life. I don’t think that an animal’s life should be “sacrificed” for the life of a human. But try explaining that to them.

Then I made the mistake of going into the whole Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, and instead of getting the concept that our rights are being infringed, now they’re all, “Fuchsia’s a terrorist!” Jokingly, of course, but still. Um… did you not listen to anything I said?

Anyway, so I endured this yesterday, and then as I was heading down to the El after work, I was accosted by a Greenpeace person. He pretty much hunted me down (seriously… I had my headphones on, listening to Vegan Freak, and he just kept saying stuff to me until I actually paid attention). When I finally heard him, it went like this:

GP: “I know you love the environment!”
Me: “Yes, I do. Tell me, are you vegan?”
GP: “No…”
Me: “Well, animal consumption is the main contributor to the gases that are thought to be causing global warming.”
GP: *nervous laugh* “Animal consumption is the biggest contributor to pollution in general. But I’m a vegetarian. Well, I admit, I do cheat sometimes. But I try to avoid factory farming as much as possible.”

(Mind you that I’m walking very quickly down the street to catch my train and he’s walking alongside me.)

Okay… don’t say you’re a vegetarian to get my money (not that I have any anyway, and there are other organizations, like the ADL, that I’d rather give my money to). If you know what’s doing the most damage (than everything else combined) to the environment, fucking do something about it, starting with yourself. And don’t fucking say you’re a vegetarian but you “cheat” sometimes. If you cheat… you’re not a vegetarian. Sometimes we make mistakes (family members sneaking things into food, for instance. Or for all those years that I was vegetarian before becoming vegan, I just didn’t know that gelatin was considered not vegetarian), but saying you “cheat”? That’s just completely different. You’re not a vegetarian.

I said it was a rant, right? I swear a lot when I’m ranting.

Then today I came into work, feeling like absolute shit, and had to endure Day Two of the vegan questioning. I was mostly completely out of it, though (I get loopy when I’m sick), so I don’t really remember anything.

On the El on the way home, the man I was sitting next to was reading a book about the horrors of factory farming and slaughterhouses. After the last two days, it was good to know that I wasn’t alone in thinking about all of this. (Okay, there’s another vegan at work, and quite a few vegetarians, but I hardly ever come into contact with them…)

But then I came home and Emelda came over to practice our cheers for our new Radical Cheerleaders team, and we came up with some new ideas as well (still need to come up with a name…). We’re going to be cheering at Saturday’s protest, and another one on Sunday (yay!). Oh and ADL sent out the 12 Days of Liberation so I was excited about that.

But yeah, that’s been me lately. Frustrating non-vegans (they’re not all bad, and they’re not as bad as ex-vegans of which I thankfully don’t know any here), intelligent vegans, and everything in between.