How Not to Be the Punchline of the Vegan-at-a-Dinner-Party Joke
NMA Radio co-host Doug recently attended a bachelor party, where while discussing meals for the weekend, it became clear that one of the guys wasn\u2019t comfortable with Doug\u2019s being a vegan.\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\n"We\u2019re all having meat. What are you going to eat, Doug? Carrots?"\nWe\u2019ve all been in this situations like this. It\u2019s that moment at a restaurant, party, or dinner when all of a sudden people realize you\u2019re vegan or vegetarian, and don\u2019t know how to react. Before you can even say a word, someone gets defensive or pokes fun of your diet.\xa0\nSo what do you do? Usually, we react in one of two ways. Either:\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\n1) You use it as an opportunity to make a point, defend your diet choice, and maybe even convince a few people, or\xa0\xa0\xa0\xa0\n2)You brush it off and keep the mood light, in an attempt to make veganism appear as normal as possible.\xa0\nI\u2019m not saying either of these better than the other; I respect both choices. But I know the one that I choose, almost every single time.\xa0\nIn today\u2019s episode, we discuss these two approaches, and how Doug and I handle the uncomfortable situations at parties, with family, and while out to dinner. We also share the rest of Doug\u2019s story, and how by the end of the weekend, he got that same guy to take interest in the vegan diet.