March 14, 2011

YOU KNOW SOMEONE IS VEGAN WHEN THEY __________ (fill in the blank).

Random Responses to the question: You know someone is vegan when they ___________________________(fill in the blank). 

* You know someone is vegan when they “act” like a vegan and mince neither meat nor words.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they never refer to it as a diet.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they get angry at dairy industry commercials.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they look at clothing made of wool, fur, leather, or any other “skin” and just see horrific pain and suffering.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they can no longer use euphemisms for animal exploitation. Instead of saying “filet” they would say “the dismembered flesh of a corpse of a sentient creature.” They would not say “putting them to sleep” or “euthanasia” – but instead say– “killing them”.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they are ready to talk about veganism and answer the same old question for the millionth time…because there’s always someone truly interested in learning how to avoid animal exploitation.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they say “he” or “she” rather than “it”, and when they say “who” or “whom” rather than “that” and “what” when referring to non-human animals.

* You know someone is vegan when there is no way in the world they will ever be tempted by a non-vegan product because they can’t look at them without seeing the horrendous suffering behind the pretty wrappings.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they gently relocate insects rather than killing them unnecessarily.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they are abolitionist and know the true principle of animal rights.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they bring their own soap to work so they don’t have to use dead animal soap.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they have a deep connection with, and a true heartfelt awe for all nonhuman beings, and refuse to eat or exploit them in any way.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they ask (out of habit) another vegan ‘is that vegan?’ about something they cooked!
 
* You know someone is vegan when they can’t even kill a cockroach without feeling guilty.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they tell a stranger in the grocery store check out line the reasons to give up dairy.
 
* You know someone is really vegan when they can't see a piece of “meat” without imagining the being it was before the murder.

* You know someone is really vegan when they don't automatically kill an insect that’s in their way!
 
* You know someone is really vegan when they refuse to take medication with animal ingredients, tested on animals, sometimes even to death.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they leaflet.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they check the ingredients of every item they are buying, including those they've bought before.

* You know someone is vegan when they care enough to nurture other people into becoming vegan.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they stop coddling over-sensitive vegetarians.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they refuse to go anywhere that has “ham” in the place’s name or never shop at Winn Dixie because they call themselves ‘the beef people’.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they cover their nose as they hurry past the stinky meat and dairy sections of the supermarket.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they don’t miss any animal products, crave veggies, and look like a walking advertisement for cruelty-free living.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they catch and release mice in their home (and try to keep the family together!).
 
* You know someone is vegan when they ask waiters in restaurants if there are any animal products in the food.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they object to the idea of “happy cows”, free-range chickens and “sustainable” animal agriculture as speciesist greenwash.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they don't use honey or bee products and is prepared to talk about the exploitation of bees.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they will balk at the term “humane slaughter” calling it an oxymoron.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they compare factory farms to Nazi death camps.

* You know someone is vegan when they refer to cats and dogs as rescued companion animals and rejects the notion of ownership of animals.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they refuse to ride a horse and objects to horseback riding, even if the horses are well-treated otherwise.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they object to the notion of zoos and sees them as animal prisons and exploitive.
 
* You know someone is really vegan when they consider artificial insemination of cows to be the moral equivalent of rape.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they say that cow’s milk is only meant for a cow’s calf.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they believe the only proper place for cows, pigs, sheep and chickens is on a farm that is a sanctuary for them.
 
* You now someone is vegan when they think ahead and clean their kitchen at night so as not to attract rodents that companion animals might attack.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they promote no-kill shelters; rejects high-kill shelters (according to this definition – PETA doesn't qualify as vegan).
 
* You know someone is vegan when they reject “welfarism”; curses Temple Grandin, and considers animals some of his/her best friends.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they open the refrigerator at a friend’s house and know they are looking at a large section of a pig’s body, not a ham.

* You know someone is vegan when you see them hunched over every label at a grocery store!
 
* You know someone is vegan when they feed a vegan diet to their canine companions.

* You know someone is vegan when they reject the argument that subsistence hunting and culling to keep animal populations down is justified.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they doggedly research ways to feed their obligate-carnivore feline companion safely, without relying on slaughterhouses.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they know that being vegan is not enough…it’s simply the starting point…we need to be activists! We need to educate and reach out to others.
 
* You know someone is vegan when they had their violin bow re-strung with synthetics.

*You know someone is really vegan when they "google" vegan restaurants before they've even visited the town!    

* You know that someone is vegan when she or he recognizes that veganism is not about us or for us, even though it does benefit us.  

* You know someone is vegan when they email food manufacturers to find out if the "natural and/or artificial flavor" on the label is derived from plants or animals.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

You know that someone is really vegan when they show compassion for all living sentient beings. Including the humans that have views they don't agree with. You will never hear a true vegan say "they should die for what they've done" or "go to hell". A true vegan would not wish harm on any animal human or non-human and they would do what they could to help all.

Anonymous said...

HAd a laugh reading this. I can check dozens just from yesterday. There is one though, I would like to see removed:

"You know someone is really vegan when they can’t even kill a cockroach without feeling guilty."

I know it wasn't meant this way, but it seems to me that the "even" implies a somewhat justifiable killing because the animal is a cockroach. To me, this has quite a speciesist ring to it.

Take care!

Cosmic said...

I second that anonymous comment(well said:)!

Simone said...

I love this!! I was agreeing to everyone and giggling at the same time. This is so me! Makes me proud <3

Simone said...

I disagree with anonymous, you should leave that comment! Because i have killed a cockroach and i felt horrible, where others wouldnt give it a second thought. This guilt leads to not doing it again.

Anonymous said...

You know someone is vegan when they're googling vegan restaurants before they've even visited the town..!

Phoenixj said...

k this is a shame as I had a rather detailed post I had written, for what ever reason it did not post and I had forgotten to Copy it lol,

Well in short I'm 30 and I only pushed away all enslavement about 4 months ago after a lifetime of blindness, Well my entire life I have felt like an 'Alien' among 'People' no other beings though, well I see contradictions everywhere I go which is the only reason I do not know how to take the word 'Vegan'...Up until last night I had yet to find a site that even came close to having a clue, well in short I stumbled on a few sites right before this post which have more of a clue then I have seen any other site that has the word Vegan in it have before, frankly I have not seen a single contradiction at these sites, Very Transparent sites, even about the contradictions at some of the other 'Vegan' Sites which I saw contradictions at long ago and only made me feel more Alienated from people themselves. Well in short its good to see that if I am alien I'm not the only one!

Peace to you, nice article, Nice to see I'm not the only one in this world of chaos that has a Clue and understands its not just about people, however it is about ALL Life, Everywhere, back, present and forward, for all ∞ and beyond time itself. Sure I can't speak for 100% as I just came across your post and I just came across the other sites, I will only say that I have yet to see any other sites with a fraction of this awareness, o and yes I'm moving and the first thing I've been checking is do they have Vegan stores, as to me that can say something about the development of the area itself.

Peace,

~Jason

a vegan said...

you know someone is vegan when they tell you they're a vegan.

M. (known as) "Butterflies" Katz said...

"A vegan said" you know someone is vegan when they tell you they're vegan...but that simply is not true. It should be true, and I wish it were true. I would never turn to them and say that you're not a vegan, but in reality, there are a hell of a lot of vegans who say they are vegan who simply are not, by any stretch of the word. They don't go as far as practically possible to avoid animal products. Being vegan is not something you do ONLY when it is convenient.

Erinbert said...

Many of these are great, and some of them are downright obnoxious and horrid. Seriously, if you are going to accost strangers in line at the grocery store or treat those around you with disdain because they have yet to see the light, you are most assuredly part of the problem, NOT the solution. Seriously people, as vegans we need to show compassion, patience and grace, not be soap toting, know-it-all, smug jerkfaces who make everyone around us feel like crap. Make everyone vegan cookies, smile, and show a little grace. Seriously.

Anonymous said...

I never "dread hearing the words, “I’m a vegetarian!”". Hearing someone say that means that they have learnt about the horrors of the meat industry and changed their life to try and prevent animal cruelty. It signals to me that the person is compassionate and may well respond if I tell them that the dairy and egg industries are equally horrible. I think this kind of scoffing at vegetarians, who sometimes are just uneducated, is uncalled for.

Anonymous said...

Meat has always smelt terrible and is disgusting. That's why I was a vegetarian before I even thought about caring about the animals.

Unknown said...

Some of those made me laugh some made me cry but I GOT every one of them.