Vegetarianism

1. Yesterday a friend told me she plans to get more chickens in the Spring. I asked if they eat them or just use them for eggs.

"Oh, just the eggs," she said. "No. I couldn't eat them. I don't eat meat. Haven't for years."

She explained that her daughters also eat no meat. She, and they, cannot abide the inhumane treatment of animals. She doesn't even like to think about it. And so they do not, cannot eat meat.

I said I understood, and I do, and added that my consumption of meat has decreased markedly over the last few years, though it is not based on any moral ground.

She said often when she has told people she's a vegetarian she has been met with disdain, open disapproval, even hostility. People try to argue her out of her position.

I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised by that.

2. Today my friend N, whose teenage granddaughter is living with her, said the girl came home from school the other day and asked, "Grandma, what are we having for dinner?" When N answered, the granddaughter said, "No, Grandma, I can't eat that. I've decided to become a vegetarian."

N replied, "Well, that's fine, dear. But you don't like vegetables."