I have recently switched to a vegan diet.
I feel wonderful about my decision. How do you handle going to going
to a friend's house and they only serve meat or dairy-based foods?
How do you politely say no thank you without offending anyone. I
found myself in this situation recently and felt uncomfortable.
Please help!
Ashley
Dear Ashley,
Each of us has to work out our own way of dealing with these things,
but since you asked, I will tell you what I tend to do. If I am
going to a friend's house for a meal, and they aren't already aware
of my dietary needs, then I make sure to call them before hand and
joyfully let them know what my needs are. I make a point of thanking
them for going to any extra trouble that might be involved for them.
If I end up somewhere where a meal is served and it's only foods
that I don't eat, then I tend to take the people in charge aside,
privately explain my needs to them, and ask if there is something
they could find or fix for me that I can eat.
I try not to be apologetic or self-deprecating. And I also try not
to be evangelical or patronizing. Before I speak, I seek to be in
a place of complete respect both for the people I will be speaking
to, and also for myself. Then I can make my request in a way that
is simple, straight forward, and grateful for the food they are
able to provide me that I can eat.
I believe there are times in life to speak about why I eat the foods
that I do, and there are other times to simply let my actions speak
for themselves. In each case, though, my heart is focused on the
understanding that the way we treat each other, and the way we feed
each other, says a tremendous amount about us as people.
