A Side Order of Guilt

Last night Tony and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie (hooray!). We got there about an hour and a half early, so we opted to sit down at their cafe and split an order of french fries. I LOVE french fries and potato chips, but I usually avoid them due to the greasiness, high calorie content, and lack of nutritional value. I hadn't had either in a while, though, so I figured, meh, what the hell! But then, as we sat there munching on fries, I looked over at the next table where they were having fried chicken tenders. I thought to myself, "Hmm, I wonder if they have separate fryers..." Now, I know most places usually do have separate fry and meat fryers, but I've heard that if the restaurant gets busy, they'll often toss whatever into whichever.

I guess that thought bothered me more than I knew at the time. Every once in a while when I feel guilty about something I've eaten, I'll have a nightmare in which I eat meat. Last night was one of those times. I dreamed that my mom served up fried chicken for dinner, and I had a few bites before realizing, "WAIT! WHAT AM I DOING!? I DON'T EAT MEAT!!!" Then I set the chicken down, disgusted. Sometimes parts of dreams feel so real, and tasting the nasty, greasy chicken fat sure was a horrid, realistic feeling. I think the fact that Thanksgiving is coming is another reason I had this dream. I've been dreading seeing that poor animal carcass sitting on the table while the rest of my family chows down on its flesh.

My point in all this is not that vegans and vegetarians should beat themselves up over little slips. My point is that you should listen to yourself. From now on, I'll probably never touch a restaurant french fry again. I'm obviously not OK with eating them, and I feel good knowing that I discovered something about myself.

I'll end with a little plug for Farm Sanctuary. If I had ANY spare money right now, I'd love to donate to this. Hopefully someone else out there will read my blog or one of the many places it's posted and decide to take part. Maybe I can convince my mom as a way to make our Thanksgiving more compassionate. Check it out, and sponsor a turkey! http://www.adoptaturkey.org/