asking about vegetarian restaurant employees

[Guest guest]

I

don’t see any problem with asking about the veg

status of Eric Tucker or Café Gratitude employees or anyone else, for that

matter. Nor do I find it to be merely “gossip.”

It’s important.

We

live in a meat-eating world and we all know that our money often goes to

slaughterhouses, even if we’re strict vegans ourselves. When I paid

my mechanic $500 last month, I’m sure some of that money went to meat

purchases (although he did take a Veg Starter Kit!). That sucks, but

that’s life, and at the very least we can make every interaction with a

meat-eater an interaction of positive advocacy for animals.

However,

if I have a choice of giving my money to a meat-eater or a vegan, I will of

course

choose the vegan. And if I’m eating out, to relax, on my

“down”

time—you bet I want to be with people who are compassionate and

don’t hurt animals. I would be very disappointed to go

to a veg restaurant, settle in for a nice meal, and then be told by my waiter

that he “has” to eat meat.

Animal

rights activists are often sneered at, laughed at, flipped off for their bumper

stickers, and confronted with angry (defensive, cowardly) people. We need

to support each other when we can, and that includes in places we consider our

safe havens. If I go to dinner with my neighbors, and they all eat

animals, that dinner is going to be work. If I go to dinner with other

veg folks, in a veg place, that meal will be—hopefully—precious

time off. No debating, no explaining, no stupid questions, and no

reminders of animal cruelty for a little window of

time. If my server reminds me of animal cruelty, or if I find out the

person

who made my vegan dinner eats animals, I’ll be sad and it will take

away

from the experience. I might still eat there, simply because vegan

establishments are so precious. But I might choose another vegan place

next time, for example, Golden Era or Feel Real Café.  There the owners and chefs are all vegan

and they vocally support veganism. I’ll feel better when I pay the

check.

We

cannot be judgmental to meat-eaters in our daily interactions, because that

turns people off of a compassionate diet. But that doesn’t

mean there is no room for judgment. We are not asking if

a certain restaurant owner wears blue clothes, because we only

like red. We are asking if they actively support and pay for animal

torture. Because that is what is eating animal flesh, milk, and eggs

is—it is paying someone to hurt and kill animals for our pleasure.

I

believe that if we all found out a server at our favorite vegan restaurant

was a child abuser, we would all place judgment on him. We would not

want him to serve us, we would not want him to have our money, we

would wonder why the restaurant couldn’t hire kind people. And

nobody would say that our concerns were “gossiping” or

inappropriate.

Animal

abuse is as horrible as child abuse, and eating animal products is animal

abuse.

We

are a veg community, and we are a minority among meat-eaters. We need to

support each other, which this list does. One of the many

reasons this list is so great is the information shared on it. I want to

know what restaurant owners are veg, which ones don’t give a damn, which

business has defensive dairy-eating employees. That way I can make more

informed decisions about where I want to spend my money and my down time. I feel that

BAV list members should be able to comfortably discuss these issues and

ask any questions about local veg folks and veg businesses.

And

to end on a positive note—thanks to BAV, I learned about Feel Real Café and

I finally went there the other night.  YUM.  I’ve heard there’s

some question about their hours, so you may want to call ahead, but I’m

going to review them for the Ultimate Guide right away and I can’t try to

try their breakfast.  The food was delicious, the owners/chefs are vegan, and

the prices were very reasonable for the large portions.

Alex