The next raw food book I read better have a whole chapter devoted to sticky social situations as a raw food-er.
We have a friend, whom we love dearly but haven't seen in months, who invited us over for dinner. She and I had gone out to lunch a while back and I didn't make my eating habits main conversation but just ate a huge fruit salad and mentioned briefly that we try to eat raw, vegan food.
I never expected that she would make us chicken for dinner--organic chicken she bought especially for us from Whole Foods. That she was making from a special recipe. That she was trying out for the first time. Just for us.
You know, no pressure.
As we hung out in the kitchen, watching her prepare the poultry, I determined in my heart that I would make no mention of our veganism. But my husband couldn't watch her make it, just to watch us avoid it on our plates. So, he told her. She laughed out loud, certain we were being silly. "You are joking, right?" She laughed, slicing the raw chicken parts into thin strips for the grill.
So hard to say no. We smiled and apologized, I died in my heart, but told her about the vegan thing. So we ate salad and risotto (like I was going to tell her we don't eat cooked rice!) and she felt horrible.
But she brightened up when it came time to serve dessert--special dessert she had bought just for us from Whole Foods. A real treat that she never buys just for herself but wanted to share with us.
When she brought out the caramel custard cups, we oohed, aahed and ate. No questions asked. I couldn't believe I was actually allowing the white satan (refined sugar) to enter my mouth, but it did. And I even swallowed.
I don't ever want my ideals to wound another person. Granted, there is a right and a wrong. Truth is not "up to interpretation." But when someone I know and love has gone out of their way to bless me, I am going to receive it--whether it's what I want or not.
As we left, I still felt guilty for not eating the chicken. But as my husband and I got in the car, he said he almost vomited from the custard. Not that it didn't taste good, but he sad his body just didn't want anything to do with it. Now that's the real victory for me.
We have a friend, whom we love dearly but haven't seen in months, who invited us over for dinner. She and I had gone out to lunch a while back and I didn't make my eating habits main conversation but just ate a huge fruit salad and mentioned briefly that we try to eat raw, vegan food.
I never expected that she would make us chicken for dinner--organic chicken she bought especially for us from Whole Foods. That she was making from a special recipe. That she was trying out for the first time. Just for us.
You know, no pressure.
As we hung out in the kitchen, watching her prepare the poultry, I determined in my heart that I would make no mention of our veganism. But my husband couldn't watch her make it, just to watch us avoid it on our plates. So, he told her. She laughed out loud, certain we were being silly. "You are joking, right?" She laughed, slicing the raw chicken parts into thin strips for the grill.
So hard to say no. We smiled and apologized, I died in my heart, but told her about the vegan thing. So we ate salad and risotto (like I was going to tell her we don't eat cooked rice!) and she felt horrible.
But she brightened up when it came time to serve dessert--special dessert she had bought just for us from Whole Foods. A real treat that she never buys just for herself but wanted to share with us.
When she brought out the caramel custard cups, we oohed, aahed and ate. No questions asked. I couldn't believe I was actually allowing the white satan (refined sugar) to enter my mouth, but it did. And I even swallowed.
I don't ever want my ideals to wound another person. Granted, there is a right and a wrong. Truth is not "up to interpretation." But when someone I know and love has gone out of their way to bless me, I am going to receive it--whether it's what I want or not.
As we left, I still felt guilty for not eating the chicken. But as my husband and I got in the car, he said he almost vomited from the custard. Not that it didn't taste good, but he sad his body just didn't want anything to do with it. Now that's the real victory for me.
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