is your plate half full or half empty?

as a long-time member of a facebook group called 'ottawa vegetarians and vegans' i did something the other day that i hadn’t ever done before. i made a comment.

a troubled young vegan lady was asking if other folks on the site ever experienced increased crankiness due to the diet. a long line of people emphatically negated that heretical idea. some in fact even seemed, well, cranky about it. they strongly disagreed with the notion that her problem could have anything to do with a vegan diet. they suggested more lentils, certain sumplements, yoga, meditation. i eventually wrote: "i've been strictly vegetarian for forty-five years, vegan for the last five of those years, and i've been extremely cranky the whole time."

i’m not actually vegan, but i have been strictly vegetarian for over four-and-a-half decades. so obviously i prefer veggie restaurants when out and about. in fact, i prefer vegetarian buffets. firstly, they're vegetarian, which eliminates ‘mistakes'. a few years ago i ate what was sold to me as a vegetarian burrito at a place in the rideau centre food court and all hell broke loose almost immediately. i made it to the salle de bain in time but i'm pretty sure that's when the mall decided to undergo massive renovations.

i like vegetarian buffets specifically because i'm not a big eater and not into the whole doggy-bag thing. i find that tacky. while the plate remains half full, or half empty, i simply leave with my tail between my legs. i often order take-out and eat in my car. then i feel free to take some home. obviously if one’s not alone that'd be wierd but it's fantastic if you just feel like eating half a meal, or if you have aspergers.

of course a buffet is not a fine-dining experience, probably a bit of a buzz-kill on a date. in that case one really has to sacrifice ones prefrrences at least until all the romance has gone outta the relationship. that usually takes a week or two. then you can both just eat in the car.

the main point is that you might upon occasion dress for somebody else, but you should always eat for yourself.