So, I’m approximately half-way through Lent. The no-meat thing has been a completely different thing than the no-coffee thing last year. Where coffee is a daily ritual, where I could expect the same feeling every morning when I didn’t do something that I normally did, meat for me was more free-form. Maybe every day. But maybe not. So the effects have been more random. I’ve compared it to a shock collar on a dog. I’ll be at a fast food joint about to order and – ZAP! – no, can’t order a burger. Or I pick up a package of my favorite cup-o-soup – ZAP! It’s split pea (vegetable), but there’s ham (not a vegetable) in it. Rats.
And I’ve also found that there’s a real trust issue involved. Of course, I can’t go to my favorite taco joint for a bean burrito, because lord knows what’s in those things. But, even at a real restaurant, with a server, I have to really give up some faith. Like on Sunday, I was at a Rockfish restaurant (small seafood chain, somewhere between Red Lobster and Joe’s Crabshack in feel). I figured I could cobble something together from the sides and salads menu. But our waitress was, mmmmm, less than stellar. She’d already goofed about 3 times by the time she came to take our meal orders. I started out saying, “I’m trying to not eat meat. So, if I order anything that has meat in it, just tell me.” Like it may say, spinach, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have bacon crumbles on the top, or it’s cooked in chicken broth. But, I had to really trust that this fairly scatty waitress would get that. And just looking in her face, I didn’t have a lot of hope. I think I ordered pretty well. Because nothing tasted that good, so I’m pretty sure no animal fat was involved. If I don’t automatically go “yuuummmm” it’s a pretty good indicator that nothing with a face gave up its life for my consumption.
So far it’s been pretty awkward and weird. And I don’t know if I’m as satisfied with this “give up” as I was with last years. All I really feel is kind of petulant, rather than challenged. We’ll see. Maybe by Easter I’ll feel different. Maybe.
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2 comments:
It is tough trying to guess ingredients so I go by the policy of having faith that people are truthful when they say "veggie burger" that I'm not served something fried in lard or othe animal products. There is only so much we can control in life. I don't stress too much iver it.
I belive that people have good intentions. But a friend at work (a vegetarian by conscience and health convictions) was handed a vegetarian dish - cooked with chicken broth! And this was at the high end grocery store that pushes organic/exotic veg. Sheesh. You'd think that they, of anyone, would get it.
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