You guessed it! Another vegetarian here to complain about the disadvantages that come with not eating meat. This entry marks the first of many tales, Veggie Tales! I am coming here today, through whatever screen you are reading this from, to complain.

Granted, this would be much more meaningful if it were coming from a lifelong meat hater, but I have been a vegetarian now for around eight months, give or take a few adventures to Korean BBQ. This change to my diet started in July 2018 during my time working in Yellowstone National Park as an enrollee for their Youth Conservation Corps. In my third week apart of the program, I gave up meat as a challenge to myself and to see just how far I could last without eating such products. Surprisingly, it was so much easier than I thought. I was surrounded with like-minded veggie lovers who were super helpful and encouraging towards my endeavors into vegetarianism.

My first encounter with struggling with the cost of not eating meat was met by exclusivity surrounding menu options. This was on the adventure back home from YNP at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in South Dakota. Prior to my stay in the park, the menu would have been perfect and completely up my alley. But with my desire to stick to a healthier, morally sound lifestyle, I had a salad. I. Hate. Salad. Now, let me tell you, a salad here and there is not such a bad thing. They’re fun, they’re fresh, and you can put basically anything on them. At the time, I was completely fine munching on leaves while those around me chowed down on steak and chicken. But as time continued and I occasionally would leave my house to go out to dinner with family and friends, salad became boring and extremely frustrating.

Once I became completely done with the idea of eating hamster food, I started looking in different areas of the menu for options I could eat. With no surprise, there was little to nothing without meat. I can’t even imagine being vegan, when the only ways I get around eating out are by ordering eggs or dairy products.

Other than my profound irritation at restaurants providing “vegetarian” option(s) through one salad, I can not fully explain the feeling of being that friend when eating out. I will admit this issue is much easier to combat when you’re with someone else with dietary restrictions, but when you’re the only one in a group who can’t or won’t eat something specific, you feel like such a burden — at least, I do.

When I’m out and trying to find a new restaurant and looking through the menu that everyone else seems ecstatic about, it sucks having to let everyone down by saying something along the lines of, “Is there somewhere else you guys would like to go? There aren’t any vegetarian options.” If you have the friends I do, this isn’t such a big deal, but it still feels horrible letting everyone down because of something that seems so small.

Honestly, this article wouldn’t even exist if there weren’t any major difficulties regarding my choice to be a vegetarian. But, since these issues exist, there is obviously a need for it.

The quote that best sums up my feelings is from my main man Pythagoras: “As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.”