Apparently my religion is a phase AND not good enough!

[Goddess of Retail]

Two stories this time, both of which take my religion into account. First one happened about 3 months ago, second story happened this week. As I'm sure you can tell by my pic & subtitle, I'm Pagan. Have been for 10 years, & my mom didn't even freak out...as she 'converted' before I did

I've been a ovo-lacto vegetarian for 12 years, don't eat any meat/poultry or fish/seafood, since it conflicts (in MY opinion) with "harming none" like my religion says. I try to only buy my milk and eggs from local farms, where I can actually SEE the animals & how they are being treated. Wish I could for ice cream, too! Anyway...

"You'll get over it..."

While at work, I tend to move/package stuff a lot, so I don't wear too much jewelry. I always wear my silver pentacle necklace though, since it's on a short chain & isn't 'in your face' like some Pagans have.
I'm ringing up a 50-ish lady customer who I've never seen before, & this conversation ensues.

IL=Ignorant Lady
M=Me!

(We're talking about the Gamecube she's buying, she's talking but then stops rather suddenly.)

IL: That's odd...

M: What is? (Haven't looked up for scanning yet.)

IL: Your Star of David has too few points...a cousin of mine is Jewish, & his necklace always has SIX points on it! You should probably ask for your money back from wherever you bought it.
(This happens more than I'd like )

M: (Smiling) No, ma'am it has 5 points instead of 6 because it's a pentacle, not a Star of David. Don't worry, it's a common mistake if you don't look closely.

IL: (eyes get wide) A pentacle? YOU'RE a Satanist? But you're so nice!

M: *sigh* No, ma'am. That's a common misconception due to religious propaganda and Hollywood movies. Pagans and Satanists aren't the same thing, unless you think that 'pagan' defines anyone whose not a Christian. Actually, most Pagans don't even believe in a devil. That's usually considered a Judeo-Christian concept.

IL: But...but...if you don't believe in the Devil, then who is running this world?!

M: (Finishes her transaction) Well, I guess that would be the Lady and the Lord, if you asked what I believe.

IL: (relieved look) OH! So you DO believe in God! Thank heaven for that!

M: (little miffed) Well, I believe in a God AND a Goddess. Two halves of the same universal spirit...But anyway, you have a nice day.

IL: (Starts to leave, then comes back & pats my hand) Don't worry about believing in a goddess, dear, I'm sure it's just a phase you're going through! GOD BLESS YOU! (Leaves)

Coworker comes up & says " Maybe I should invite you over for Hannukah? "



That's not good enough!

I'm eating a from bag of potato chips (crisps?), and 2 customers walk in. 1 of them I know really well, so I offer him some chips too. Random customer heads over to the comic book wall.

SC: guess who
M: me
RC: regular customer

M: Hi, RC. You want some chips? They're salsa flavored!

RC: Sure, why not? (munches) Hey these are great! I wish I'd had some of these with my sandwich today. It was my homemade thin-sliced roast beef with cheese, sauce, wheat bread...they would've gone great together.

M: Yeah, probably. Roast beef was 1 of my favorites, especially thin-sliced.

RC: Huh? Oh, that's right...you're a vegan. Or was that vegetarian?

M: Vegetarian. I don't think vegan is quite as healthy...

SC: (whips around) What?! If ANYTHING, it is HEALTHIER!!!! It makes you a BETTER person too!

RC: Uh, ok. Well, see ya M. (walks away)

M: Alright, see you...

SC: (comes up to register with comics) Sorry for butting in there, but I can't help it. I've been a vegan for 2 years, and I get really bent by people who are JUST vegetarians. It's like they don't REALLY care!

M: Ok...(scanning books quickly) Well, I just try to do what I believe my religion says to do, which is cause no harm to yourself or others. (He started it, I can get philosophical too! )

SC: THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!! I mean, I bet you eat turkey and chicken, right?

M: No. No animals.

SC: Oh. Well, I bet you enjoy lobster? Or had fish recently, huh?!

M: (pointedly) NO. NO ANIMALS.

SC: (quiet for a moment while I run his card, then...) BUT YOU DRINK MILK AND EAT EGGS!

M: Yes...

SC: Ha! So you admit to creating a living hell for our fellow creatures! You eat unformed BABY chicks! And do you know how they get milk from cows?! They get them pregnant then take the babies away. The babies are fed blood from other cows instead of milk! You're as bad as a meat-eater!!!!

M: Uh, sir. You DO know that unless some rooster gets into the pen somehow, all eggs are unfertilized, right? There is very little chance of a chick ever being in 1 of those eggs. And I can assure you that the farm I support doesn't feed the baby cows 'blood'. They are given a mixed formula, just like a human baby who's mom doesn't breast-feed.

(trying to hand bag of comics to him, he finally takes it after staring for a bit)

SC:....Oh. Well, you're wrong about the eggs. They come with babies in them, that's how chickens are. But I guess if you don't buy milk from <big-box grocery store> that's better than nothing. *Sigh* It's not like EVERYONE could be as good as vegans are...
(Actually looks sad as he goes to talk to my coworker.)

I remain confused though. Did he REALLY think chickens are asexual?

[Legal Eagle]

remember ladies, every period you have is an abortion!

or at least it is in his world

[Kheldarson]

Well...could it stop in that case? I'm not a fan of it already.


But geeze. Where's his tin foil cap? Aren't they supposed to warn us when they're coming?

[LillFilly]

Wow. Is it sad I think your lucky that the reactions you got regarding faith have been WAY more mild than the one's I've gotten? Sigh. I did get the 'star of david' line once; that was interesting to explain!

But...Asexual chickens??? Anyhow, kudos on believing how you believe; I've seen how hard it is to be vegetarian, and I admire people with that dedication.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

But...Asexual chickens???

"Asexual Chickens" would be a good name for a rock band.

[bainsidhe]

Well...could it stop in that case? I'm not a fan of it already.

Ya got that right! Personally, I try really hard not to have polarizing conversations with customers. Too bad they barge in and insist on having one though.

[ArcticChicken]

I had scrambled chicken menstruation for breakfast this morning!

[k7eric]

I had to chime in on the ice cream...why not make your own? If you are getting your own milk, cream and eggs then it's a simple matter to grab an electric ice cream maker, ice cream salt and some vanilla Yes, it's not as good as commercial ice cream (in some cases) but it's safe and tastes great.

And that poor vegan really needs intro Biology again.

[Sheldonrs]

I had scrambled chicken menstruation for breakfast this morning!

Ahh... The Denny's Grand NON-Slammed Breakfast!

[NateTheChops]

IL: (Starts to leave, then comes back & pats my hand) Don't worry about believing in a goddess, dear, I'm sure it's just a phase you're going through! GOD BLESS YOU! (Leaves)

I recently caught the same speech from a psychiatric nurse who was doing my intake interview when I had to sit a spell on the psych ward. (long story)

I told her how I had moved to Salem so I could get the fortune teller's lisence, so that I could do tarot readings for profit. Her instant reaction, accompanied by a sad and "what an idiot" inflection was, "Do you believe in God?"

Just gotta love people who can't go the day without respecting another person's belief system.

That's not good enough!

*shutter* I hate it when people give me lip about my food choices.

You just can't please some people and it's gotten to the point where I don't even share any kind of information with someone who isn't related to me.

[Jay 2K Winger]

I think the Militant Vegan you ran into in the second story still has too much curds and whey in his head. He's probably still a bit bitter that his psychic powers haven't kicked in yet. He's just aching to blow a hole in the moon.

[chainedbarista]

militant vegan is an idiot; eggs sold are not fertilized and therefore, not unformed chickens under any stretch of the imagination.

another dumbass.

[Squeaksmyalias]

I remain confused though. Did he REALLY think chickens are asexual?

*sighs deeply* You have NO idea how many similar questions I've gotten, and yes some people do, because I've been asked if they are, more then once. I've also had to explain to a grad student that a horse was in fact, not a a cow. Also that poinsettias being grown on school grounds are not pot, I got that one way too many times. As much as I loved the agriculture classes I had in high school the questions I got were mind numbing.

Btw I love Vegetarians like you. *hugs*

[Sapphire Silk]

Simply being a vegetarian OR a vegan is not, by itself, mean a healthy diet or lifestyle.

I had two roommates in college who became vegetarians (I'm an unabashed carnivore). One cooked and ate mainly vegetables (she was ovo-lacto) by steaming, broiling, and stir fry. She stayed slim and trim. The other ate a lot of beans, especially re-fried beans . . . his favorite snack was corn chips with a sour cream based ranch dip (smelled awful, I can't stand ranch to this day just from the smell of this stuff) . . . he packed on the pounds and was well on the road to being morbidly obese when our paths parted.

The latter roommate could be quite the snob about being a vegetarian, too. Liked to make snide remarks about how meat products are raised and processed during meals.

There is nothing more obnoxious than a fanatical anything.

I recently caught the same speech from a psychiatric nurse who was doing my intake interview when I had to sit a spell on the psych ward. (long story)

I told her how I had moved to Salem so I could get the fortune teller's lisence, so that I could do tarot readings for profit. Her instant reaction, accompanied by a sad and "what an idiot" inflection was, "Do you believe in God?"

Just gotta love people who can't go the day without respecting another person's belief system.



*shutter* I hate it when people give me lip about my food choices.

You just can't please some people and it's gotten to the point where I don't even share any kind of information with someone who isn't related to me.

It's unfortunate that some people don't bother to find out what they're criticizing before they open their mouths. . . they think they are so better informed and superior.

Grr! Makes my teeth hurt just thinking about it.

So much for the holistic approach

[taxguykarl]

I try to only buy my milk and eggs from local farms, where I can actually SEE the animals & how they are being treated. Wish I could for ice cream, too!

Piece of cake: make your own frozen yogurt, frozen custard (in a practical sense ice cream which includes eggs) or ice cream from that milk. You can easily burn up a search engine looking for such recipes.