Vegetarians and Dating

just curious, does anyone else here who goes out on dates get weird looks and responses from their date (regardless of gender)

if i go out on a first date with someone and take her out to eat she always responds weird, she usually asks why i'm not ordering meat and when i say i'm a vegan then the looks and eyerolls and putdowns start.
anyone else experiance this?

 

some of my ex's have tried to get me to eat meat, never really put me down, just told me i'm weird and that i don't know what i'm missing. its annoying really because i do too know what i'm missing! and i'm not missing it!!

 

I usually wouldn't consider going out with someone unless I thought they were a decently accepting person.

My current boyfriend is great. Well, he's not a vegetarian, but he really doesn't like meat all that much and so he doesn't mind vegetarian cuisine (when some other people would just shudder and say "Ugh, no meat! It's not a meal without meat!").

 

Not only do I sometimes get the weird looks, but sometimes I come across ladies who seem to want to reconvert me back to eating eggs and dairy again (I even caught one former girlfried sneaking it into my food!). They seem to want me to conform - to them or to society - I guess (?).

Being vegan is really important to me, and I've encountered this kind of attitude so much that I now pretty much employ a 'screenout factor' to save time, money and grief. I only look for fellow vegans, vegetarians, or someone who at least gave either one an honest try at some point during their life. That way, my diet and the reasons behind it are not so bizarre. I guess those who follow halal or kosher diets might understand how important it is too.

 

To be totally honest, sometimes there are times that I wonder why I ever turned vegetarian in the first place. Yes, I get weird looks from people, and others just say "why." It does piss me off but I have to tell myself that they don't understand what they're doing, nor do they understand what they could be doing.

I've gotten weird looks and responses from crushes, etc. But eventually I'll find that special someone who'll accept me and my ways. And THAT is really important to me

 

*shrug*

Not dated a single meat-eater in the seventeen years since I gave up eating meat

 

my main caveat is that they be understanding.

my boyfriend is an omnivore, but he doesn't like meat so he eats it notoriously rarely (when he visits his family or when his friends are having it.) in fact, he loooooves vegetarian food... always gets hummus at restaurants, and freaked out his housemates a little by cooking falafel and tofu!

they don't have to be veg*n, but they do need to make an honest effort to understand where you're coming from. if they don't do it in regard to your diet, they won't do it in regard to the rest of your life either.

 

i've yet to encounter such a problem. even out of the guys i have thoguht might prove to be a possibly they have always tended to be more open-minded. i had one male friend look at me one day and say, "you're probably a vegetarian." i was kind of surpirsed anmd asked him why. he shrugged, "i just figured." it wasn't judgemental.

tolerance, acceptance, and open mindedness is so important to me that i think anyone who wouldn't be understanding and/or supporting would automatically be a non-option.

 

when i was a vegitarian people would give weird looks and always ask me to explain myself which started to get annoying so i just stopped telling them and i wouldn't order meat..

it worked for me..

 

im an "omnivore" and i wouldnt mind dating a vegetarian or a vegan, i wouldnt give them a weird look or anything, that'd just be like lookin at someone weird cuz they tell u they dont drink coffee. who cares? the motives are interesting as well, altho i dont share the same opinions, i dont condemn them.


now if u have to live with someone whos an omnivore like myself, it could be annoying in terms of day to day lifestyle, kno what i mean? just, when u go to restaurants and stuff, or even cook at home, it could get annoying not to ever eat the same stuff

we had a bbq once and a friend of mine whos a muslim was there, so we had two different bbqs, one with pork and one with only poultry and stuff like that. at some point he totally freaked out cuz someone had used the same fork to serve both kinds of meat. i respect that but hey, it makes your social life a hell

 

yea the omnis here are very unaccepting of vegetarians so they always try to get you to eat meat and give you a lecture on how not eating meat is unhealthy. So on dates i just dont tell the person and just dont order meat..they never even notice usually. I was vegetarian for 2 months before my friends even noticed.

 

Veg*ans are sexy...

 

Well if you are interested in meeting other veggies and vegans check us out - it's a free service (only over 18s, I'm afraid). No charges involved with using the site at all.

Simon

 

Wow that's weird, all the girls i've gone out with find it so interesting that I am a vegan, and respect me a lot for it. It also gives us something to talk about for a while.

Peace and Love,
Dan

 

I feel with ya', buddy...

 

I'd be happy to be with anyone, as long as they could respect my decision to be a vegetarian. I wouldn't expect them to give up meat, but I'd definitely expect a few concessions on their behalf - A willingness to eat a little less meat, perhaps, and to try more vegetarian food.

That said, I'd definitelt prefer to be wit ha vegetarian. especially if they cooked good falafel.

 

My girlfriend's not veggie - we've been together for 2 years. Like you say, it's about respecting each other's opinions. I know some veggies are adamant that they could never have a non-veggie partner, guess it's just up to the individuals...

simon

 

my current boyfriend's a veggie so ,I don't have the problem but ,I think it's weird people judging someone by what he/she eats

 

It's not a question of judgement. Some people may be so repulsed by meat-eating that they simply find it too unpleasant to be around.

 

Couldn't agree with you more. Except I'm a girl...^^