The holidays are meant to be a time of joy and relaxation, not additional stress and family drama. But unfortunately, despite your best intentions and maximum flexibility, you sometimes get into arguments with your loved ones. Over food, no less.
One woman asked the internet whether she was wrong to skip her family’s Christmas Eve celebration altogether because there were absolutely no vegan options. Despite the woman suggesting a bunch of reasonable alternatives, her aunt was adamantly opposed to all of them. Scroll down for the full story and the internet’s comments.
Your family might have a difficult time adjusting to your new lifestyle if you've recently gone vegan. However, this doesn't mean that they can throw empathy out of the window
Image credits: EyeEm/Freepik (not the actual photo)
A woman revealed how she decided to skip her family's Christmas Eve dinner altogether after a bizarre argument with her aunt over vegan dishes
Image credits: Freepik (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Freepik (not the actual photo)
Image credits: wonderingifimahhh
If you offer the dinner host various reasonable alternatives, but they still refuse to accommodate your preferences, it might be personal
Image credits: Freepik (not the actual photo)
It’s beyond frustrating when somebody doesn’t even try to be the tiniest bit empathetic toward you. Case in point, the author of the online post shared how she offered several alternatives to her aunt, just so she’d have something she could actually eat at the family dinner on Christmas Eve.
However, her aunt was stubborn to a fault. She refused to budge even a little bit.
And her excuse as to why her niece couldn’t bring any of her own dishes (a peanut allergy in the family) fell apart the moment she prohibited making any vegan dishes at her home.
At this point, it’s probably safe to say that the aunt probably had a problem with her niece’s dietary preferences and vegan lifestyle. Not quite the tolerant attitude you’d expect when you’ve never voiced any issues with your relatives continuing to eat meat yourself.
Despite all of these potential lifestyle differences, it’s possible to keep the peace and enjoy a fantastic time with your relatives over the holidays. It just takes a small shift in perspective.
The dinner table isn't the best place to argue about dietary preferences. Nobody enjoys being judged for their life choices
Image credits: dragonimages/Freepik (not the actual photo)
According to ‘Viva!’, the United Kingdom’s leading vegan campaigning charity, if you’ve recently gone vegan, it can help if you talk to your family about it before Christmas. “You can politely send them a text telling them why you are vegan, and let them know of any requests you might have. For example, you might ask if they can make vegan food for you, or you could ask them to make sure they keep the vegan food you bring separate from the meat and dairy on the table.”
However, you can’t expect that everyone will remember to accommodate your dietary preferences. They might forget to get vegan options. Or the ingredients they thought were vegan might be anything but.
So, it’s probably best if you can bring your own food. “You can show people how delicious it is to be vegan and easily dismiss any comments about only eating ‘rabbit food’. This is a great form of subtle, positive vegan activism at Christmas,” ‘Viva!’ suggests.
In a similar vein, you shouldn’t engage in any vegan-related debates at the dinner table over the holidays. If someone wants to talk to you about all the moral, environmental, and health reasons related to you embracing veganism, you can have the conversation privately, later.
Furthermore, you don’t want to come across as judgmental, thus activating your family’s defence mechanisms.“No one likes to be told they are wrong, and while you might think they are, this is never going to make them more open to veganism.”
What do you think, Pandas? Who do you think was in the wrong here? How would you react to a family member refusing to be in any way flexible when it comes to your dietary preferences? Would you ever go as far as skipping family dinners over the holidays to prove your point? You can share your thoughts in the comments below. We’d like to hear your perspectives.
Later on, the author answered people's questions in the comments, sharing more context
The majority of internet users were on the vegan's side. Here's their perspective
However, some folks were less than understanding and started criticizing the author
