The first thing I think about on my Saturday morning is what my family made for breakfast. Dreams of eggs, grits, sliced tomatoes and tofurky bacon strips. What more could a vegetarian ask for? To my avail, I open my door to the smell of deliciousness and the sound of sizzling on a pan. I walk downstairs with a smile and it is quickly replaced with the look you give the person who doesn’t do their part in a group project. All that is left in my kitchen is bacon and an empty stomach.
After settling for a double fudge poptart, I go into my vitamin cabinet and take the daily supplement that I need to get the nutrients that I usually lack. I take them with a glass of water, wishing on the inside that they were Flintstones-shaped, as all chewables should be. I think of how barbarian it is for people to eat meat as their source of protein when there's perfectly good vitamins to give you what you need. Then I go about my day.
Now, if this was a school day, I would grab my lunch and head out the door. When 10:27 a.m. hit I would head to lunch and open my box in order to take out a delicious four cheese hot pocket. It’s accompanied by a bottle of water and some bell peppers with a tangy veggie dip. I then get asked “I thought you were a vegetarian?” I then ensure them that I am indeed, but not every hot pocket contains a lovable cow or an adorable pig nestled in its marinara sauce.
After school, my friends and I congregate in the parking lot (because we’re teenagers and have no concern for safety) and talk about our after school plans. We all agree to go to Taco Bell, because lunch is basically breakfast since it’s so early in the day. Then the question that burns every vegetarian pops into my head: “What can I eat there?”
We then get to the “Mexican” eatery and I tell everyone to go in front of me in line so that I might study the menu. I then decide on a quesarito and ask for a bean substitute instead of some calf’s dad. The cashier then dawns a look of disgust and types in some numbers with a scowl because my order is so inconvenient to do along with his busy job of heating up burritos. I remember that I am doing this to save precious lives which calms my nerves. I guess not everyone that works there "thinks outside the bun."
Dinner then rolls around and I wonder what my family made. I go downstairs after everybody is done eating, because nobody deserves the horror of watching me swallow my food whole like an anaconda and look at what is resting on the stove top. Being from the south, I look to see that every vegetable has some sort of meat cooked into it. I upsettingly look in the fridge in hopes for some lettuce for a salad and see a container. I open the tupperware and a smile presents itself on my face. My family has put a surplus of vegetables in the container for me.
The day in the life of a vegetarian is somewhat irritable, but it’s something that one gets used to over the years and realizes that it is supporting a cause that is bigger than my own problems. The meat industry is cruel and torturous to the living beings that have as much right to this planet as we do. Vegetarianism is a great lifestyle choice and might be easier than you think.
