"You're a vegetarian? So you eat fish, right?"

It's one of those days where it feels like the entire universe must come up to me and say something so profoundly stupid that it damn near provokes me to violence.

Om..... Mani..... Padme..... Hum.....

I'm trying to convince myself that I'm just on a short fuse this week and that the stupid quotient of the planet didn't simply hike up a few hundred points while I slept, but there seem to be several people trying their hardest to convince me the latter is true.

Om.... Mani.... Padme.... Hum....

So far today:
(invite to barbeque) "Thanks, but they really aren't my thing. I'm a vegetarian." "You're a vegetarian? So you eat fish, right? We're grilling salmon.." "No, I don't eat meat at all." "Oh, well fish isn't meat, so it's probably ok." "No, trust me, it's a flesh-based lifeform and thus isn't something I can eat." "I'm sure you could if you tried." "I have no doubt that I could masticate and probably even swallow salmon, however, I'm just as certain that it would be making an abrupt and unsightly reappearance moments later." "You mean you'd puke??" "Or something." "GROSS!" "Exactly."

Om...Mani...Padme...Hum...
---

(on why bus prices went up) "Well, gas prices went up, so it only stands to reason that public transit would raise their prices." "They're busses! It's not like they even use gasoline, they're diesel!"

Om..Mani..Padme..Hum..
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"Ugh! I hate panhandlers! They're so dirty!" "They're homeless." "That's no excuse to not bathe!"

Om.Mani.Padme.Hum.
---

"Are you going to the anime convention this year??" "Nope, I'll be in South America." "Oh good god.. why would you go there?" "Vacation. Diving, rainforests, sea turtles, a Quaker mission, and a live volcano." "Oh, you're a missionary!" "..No, I'm not." "But.. you just said..?" "We're going to a Quaker village that started out as a mission." "..But..why? Are you Quaker?" "No, I'm not Quaker, but I really respect their mindset and I really want to see how their village is set up." "Oh, like buildings and stuff!" "No, like their town charter and their meeting house and school system and stuff." "But.. that's.. so BORING! I can't believe you'd rather go to some druglord-run country full of people who don't even speak English than go to the convention!"

OmManiPadmeHumOmManiPadmeHumOmManiPadmeHum
--

These are not quotes from the same person. This is a random sampling.

Vegetarianism. It's a choice. Why I made that choice is completely irrelevant, and I don't feel the need to defend my choice to anyone, ever. I don't think I'm being unreasonable in expecting people to respect it. "I don't eat meat" does not mean try to cajole me into eating it. It means don't ask me to. Here's a hint for the world in dealing with vegetarians: If you have no clue what to feed someone who won't/can't/doesn't eat meat - ASK THEM what to serve them, or ask them to bring something. Granted, it's kind of tacky to say, "Hey, want to come over for dinner? Oh, and can you bring your own dinner, because we're having steak?" - I'd rather hear that than "Hey, want to come over for dinner? We're having steak. Oh, you don't eat meat? Well, you could have the potatoes, those only have bacon in them."

Gas prices. Oh, right, sorry, I forgot that diesel isn't a petrochemical fuel, and thus, not a form of gasoline. Why is it that the same people who bitch about a $2.00 bus ticket will pay $4.00 for an 8oz cup of coffee without complaint? The mass transit system is partly funded by the state and that funding hasn't gone up in over 10 years. They have, in fact, lost a good portion of their funding and had to close down routes and lay off drivers to be able to keep the ticket prices low. Gas prices are currently at $2.87/g for unleaded $2.49/g for diesel. Comparitively, coffee, which is mostly tapwater, costs $4.00/8 oz, so $64.00/gallon.

Homeless. If you have to choose between buying soap or buying food, which would you do? I hope to all gods I don't ever have to make that choice, because if I do, it will mean that I'm in some pretty dire straits. I don't like being pestered by panhandlers probably any more than the person talking - but that's because I don't like being pestered pretty much at all, by anyone, ever, not because I lack compassion. While I am not likely to fork over cash to someone surrounded by alcohol or drug fumes, I carry the business cards with the local shelters and soup kitchen addresses on it, and I will give them that. I don't pretend they don't exist. I don't despise them for the situation they're in. It's only ok to care about the plight of the needy when they're clean and healthy? WTF kind of mentality is that? I don't understand it, and I think I'm glad I don't.

Vacation. Yes.. obviously, I am a moron for wanting to go to a foreign country with my travel buddy and explore somewhere I haven't been yet, instead of staying right here at home and going to a convention for anime, which I don't really like anyway. Obviously, my priorities are way out of whack and I should seek therapy immediately. How could I not want to go to a convention for something I don't really like, to be surrounded by people I don't know and probably don't want to get to know, and miss out on seeing anime I've already seen or have no desire to see? How can I pass up this brilliant opportunity to be a frothing fanthing that only comes around once a year, to go to a foreign country where they don't even speak English? Madness! Quick! Get the nets!

I must say though, that the conversations today are making me long to be in a country where 'they don't even speak English', because then, if they were speaking stupidly, I wouldn't know and would thus be spared the headache.

Om Mani Padme Hum
-Peregrine