The Vegan Tendency

If you're my friend, you probably know what I think of vegans, vegetarians and others of the sort so you can go ahead and skip this paragraph. Since you're still reading, let me put it this way: There is nothing wrong with being vegetarian or even vegan but... you're the one that has to adapt. Let me give you an example from my upbringing. As a child, my favorite question was ''What's for lunch?'' A typical answer would simply be ''Chicken''. That was sufficient  because meat was the main course and everything served with it (salads, carbs, etc) was considered a side. Because of that, I always frowned at people that could answer my favorite question with ''Salad'' or ''Pasta''.

Until recently, when I met a vegan for the first time. What surprised me was that she had brought everything that she needed for her meal with her in a small cooler. It's no secret that mainstream society paints a rather bleak portrait of vegans. They are described as snobby and sometimes even too passionate or aggressive of their life style. Miss A. was not like that. In fact, she even asked if the beef burgers we were eating were to our liking. Even better, she then offered to let us try some of her food, which was actually rather tasty. Nonetheless, I'd be the last one to give up meat.

However, this incident got me intrigued beyond measure. I started to try and understand what is going on in the heads of vegans. Some of them refuse to eat meat because industrial farming (or farming in general) is "inhumane''. In which case, my question is ''What if you hunt for your food?''. Pictures such as this one are often passed around on social media

But in fact, where DO you draw the line?

Let's, however, put meat aside just for a second. Vegans don't consume ANY animal products. That includes but isn't limited to: milk, eggs, honey... Some extreme cases don't even wear wool. So back to the question, where do you draw the line? Vegans do eat bread. Of course, vegan bread is made without milk or eggs but what about yeast? Yeast aren't animals right... right? What about sea cucumbers or other primitive life forms?  So an animal in this case, is a creature to which one can associate emotionally or even spiritually. Are vegans just... soft-hearts?

What kind of event, or argument had to happen for a person to deny himself products that humans have been consuming for millenniums? I don't know, but I sure hope it's not a desire to be unique among an ever-growing population. After the incident with Miss A., I promised myself to be more tolerant towards eating habits that might seem odd to me.

Despite that, my biggest concern is: ''If eating products that come from animals is so bad and unhealthy, why are vegan products so desperately trying to mimic them?''.

On Club and Shisha (Hookahs)

How does a student from the 21st century unwind after a long day of sitting down listening to sometimes interesting classes? Does he go out for a stroll? Does he enjoy a nice warm cup of delicious hot chocolate? No, of course not. Old people go for stroll and hot chocolate is for children. The student of the 21st century has a plan. He is going to meet his friends at 10pm and go to a bar where Shishas (or Hookahs) are served. For those that don't know what shisha is (those rare specimens that were lucky enough not to be affected by this), you can find a description here. But if reading a wikipedia page is too much, just keep reading.

The student is lucky, his friends show up on time. They head towards the famous bar, supposedly cozy, that will offer them the exquisite luxury of smoking a hookah among with a drink of their choice. The student looks at a list of different varieties of shishas and chooses at random, but he made sure that he didn't make his choice look arbitrary. After all, he's just as cool has his friends right... right? He isn't looking for validation. He didn't come there because everyone goes there. He went because he has character.
Sitting down, the student notices that despite hookahs releasing water, the air is difficult to breathe. That is acceptable though, because the student is convinced that shishas are harmless. Little does he know that they are far worse that cigarettes, because you have no idea what you're smoking and because one shisha is the equivalent of an entire pack. Let's not get into the health issues, after all, we will all eventually die one way or the other.
Finally, after finishing half of his beer, it is brought to him. The tattooed smiling waiter sets it down in front of him with a smile. Behold, the marvel of Asia. The tower upon which rests a coal that heats up the magic substance that will pass trough water into your lungs giving you a light buzz.

He inhales. Instantly his mouth and throat dry up. He releases and tries hard not to cough. It's his first time, but he doesn't want to his friends to think that he's weak.  He sips at his beer, giving his friends a sharp look. At last, he is one of them... Is he? They seem to be having a good time, yet he wonders when this good time happens. His thoughts are taken away by the conversation that strikes up, something about the mafia. An hour passes. The vapor coming out is less and less intense which means that soon, they will have to make a decision to either order another one or leave. The student is relieved because his friends decide that it is time for something else.

They leave the lounge-like bar and head up the street for... yet another bar. It seems that the objectives of the night are rather simple. Drink until you cannot taking in anymore and attempt to communicate with the opposite sex. The leader of the students has a better idea. Since it's almost twelve o'clock, he claims that is it the perfect time to enter a club. ''That's when the people start coming in'', he orates.

The students walk in. The atmosphere is quite different. The air is rare, as it is constantly pushed by powerful fans. The music is deafening. Everyone sticks to his little group. Instantly, the student doesn't feel safe anymore. There is something about the dimmed lights, the roaring music, the stickiness of some spots on the floor and the general atmosphere of drunkenness and poor life decisions that is unsettling to him. He doesn't show it, but silently he wishes he was somewhere else. They sit at a table with their overpriced beers, seemingly enjoying the music and eyeing every other homo sapiens of the opposite sex. A waiter approaches them and enlightens them that if they don't buy a bottle and someone else does, they will be forced to leave the table. Later on, the manager came with shots to say sorry about his rude employee. He struck up a conversation with the leader that the student couldn't even hear. The students starts to get bored. He doesn't know how much more he can take. He starts thinking of excuses to leave. The leader of the students gets up and goes towards the crowd. The manager vanished in the swarm. Calling this dancing would be equivalent to calling hotdogs exquisite cuisine. These people aren't dancing. They are demonstrating their body parts rhythmically in the attempt of... seducing others? The student is confused.

Then, it hits him. The perfect excuse. He has had a lot to drink which made him hungry! He approaches the leader and says ''I can't do this I'm too hungry, let's go grab something to eat''. Reluctantly, the leader concedes. They leave the dreaded place. The student utters an apology. The leader then says that he was just getting into it. They head towards an A&W. The fresh, cool air of the night is reassuring.
''Never again'', thinks the student.