Guilty... and not...

[tarotgal]

I feel sort of guilty... it's one of those priority kind of things.

Boyfriend's father just found out they're shutting down his division and everyone will be out of a job come October. Problem for me is that he works at a Turkey farm. I'm secretly happy it's being shut down... even though I really am sorry he'll be out of a job. I know they'd been threatening it for years now so it's almost a relief to him that he finally found out for sure.

But one less Turkey farm... I have to say I honestly am happy about that as a vegetarian and animal rights "activist". I would honestly be happy with hundreds of thousands of unemployed people if it meant not using animals as food or clothing. So, yeah, it's one of those priority things... feeling kinda bad about it. And I really am sorry for him because I know the job market sucks and all... but in my list of personal priorities, not killing animals is much higher than laying people off.

So now I just have to work on playing up my sympathies and keeping my mouth shut. Every time Boyfriend's parents ask why I'm vegetarian he buts in and doesn't let me answer, LOL. Thing is, once I became a vegetarian, many of the digestion/health problems I'd been having stopped almost completely and have not returned. So he always tells his parents it's for health reasons. As though I just randomly thought cutting out meat would help and that's the only reason when it's totally not. Grrrrrr. But they're rather conservative people, and I understand it's not good to denounce the way people are making a living... everyone's got choices, I realize that. It's just hard not being straight about why I make the ones I do.

Comments

[helenh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm actually in a similiar situation - My sister and I are both vegetarians. My dad works as a meat cutter at a chicken/turkey factory (It's rather ironic actually.) and will be laid off between June and October because of the spread of the Avian Flu in British Columbia's Fraser Valley, where we live(Canada).

As a matter of fact, maybe it IS his working there that turned us off off meat. (story time!) When I was in grade seven he brought home thirteen old laying hens he'd gotten from work pecking around the parking lot. He built an enclosure for them in our backyard in the old woodshed (from when we, oh so long ago, had a wood heating system) and we cared for them like pets for a little while. One was missing a leg, and a few were still laying eggs. It was neat.

And then my dad chopped off their heads (which he then gave to my cat and her kittens who ate them) and hung them with from the maple tree to drain their blood. He had us pluck away all their feathers, he cleaned them, and our step-mother put them in the freezer. I think it was her idea, actually, and I'm rather glad she's gone. You can imagine how traumatic this entire... ordeal... was.

However, I still eat eggs and drink milk, and see no point in letting older animals go to waste. Laying hens and dairy cows would never survive on their own in the wild (trust me on this one, I've spent a lot of time with both!) and we still need dog and cat food.

Consuming a small amount of meat is healthy, but the amount of it that the average person consumes is insane and unecessary! Red meat is especially unhealthy. After becoming a vegetarian I remember being really... uh.. gassy for a few weeks, which just goes to prove how much of it builds up inside of your body. Actually, the organization I came to Japan with is really bothersome, and they didn't like me being a vegetarian, so I agreed to eat fish while here (I don't eat anything I wouldn't kill with my own hands.), but urgh. I don't know if it's Japanese food in general or the fish, but my digestive system is so mucked up. I finally refused to eat white rice, and I will scream if I see another bowl of it.

My little brother wants to become a vegetarian too, quite possibly, and he's almost twelve, which is when my dad will let him choose.

Anyway, long comment. Love your fics, you're a very prolific fanfic writer.

Peace out,
Lily