The Vegetarian Torture
 

A couple invited my wife and I over for dinner. We don't know them well.

We get over to their house and they seem like a normal, happy family.

Dinner time comes and I'm starving. We sit down, and the wife starts bringing out this creative vegetarian crap. I'm sure she worked hard to prepare it, but there wasn't anything there that if put into my mouth wouldn't make me convulse into involuntary vomiting. I was starving, but I couldn't even have some bread and butter because the bread had all sorts of weird crap in it too.

What's a polite way to handle this?

Doesn't it just seem to make sense to have something "normal" prepared when you live in some weird diet world? Should I invite them over for meatloaf and mutton pie?

I was speechless at the time.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

the hosts were unkind in not mentioning you will be eating rabbit food. invite them over and have bloody red meat?

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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What's a polite way to handle this?



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Go get a burger and fries and sit back down to the table.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

They were probably just trying to impress you. I don't think its rude or strange to not serve meat at a meal. Is it possible that it was good food that you just weren't used to?

Edit: If they were raw foodie freaks you should have knocked the table over and walked out.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

the polite thing to do is to not act like a little kid and eat the food like a normal person. It's not going to make you vomit, just be an adult and try something new, it's [censored] vegetables not cow dick

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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Is it possible that it was good food that you just weren't used to?

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I'm sure it was good for the body. However, this wasn't like eggplant sandwhich or something. Apparently they're like herb lovers or something.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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the polite thing to do is to not act like a little kid and eat the food like a normal person. It's not going to make you vomit, just be an adult and try something new, it's [censored] vegetables not cow dick

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It'd be difficult to be more correct.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

I'm surprised to see that reaction from you, Q. Eat some of it, if you don't like it, don't eat that much, just tell them you're feeling a bit under the weather or some other face-saving excuse.

-d

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

ummm, eat it and pretend to enjoy it?

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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the polite thing to do is to not act like a little kid and eat the food like a normal person. It's not going to make you vomit, just be an adult and try something new, it's [censored] vegetables not cow dick

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Yeah, that's the route I tried to take. So, I scooped some of the stuff in this brown broth, and put it in my bowl. I didn't ask what is was, but it appeared to be like something out of a pond scum. I tried it, attempting to be a mature adult, but it was just god-aweful. So, I just sipped the broth from a spoon until it was gone, and left the rest in my bowl. I felt horrible, but I don't think I should.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

just [censored] eat it, its not going to poison you.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

Eat as little of it as you have to while giving off the appearance that you're enjoying the meal immensely.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

This reminds me of when I goto foreign countries and the bastards dont even speak english

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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I'm surprised to see that reaction from you, Q. Eat some of it, if you don't like it, don't eat that much, just tell them you're feeling a bit under the weather or some other face-saving excuse.

-d

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Yeah, I guess I suck at life. I just felt like this was pretty rude on their part. Perhaps, I was the rude one. I'll try to man up next time, but I've always been a puss with new foods.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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the polite thing to do is to not act like a little kid and eat the food like a normal person. It's not going to make you vomit, just be an adult and try something new, it's [censored] vegetables not cow dick

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So, what would you do if they served cow dick?

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

Vegetarian food isn't that bad...it's just that the lack of meat makes it boring. You can't tell me it was that bad...just because it looks like pond scum doesn't mean it tastes horrible. This is how a kid would react; everything that looks bad must be the worst ever. Just suck it up and eat it, it's probably not as bad as you think it is.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

Maybe you should be more flexible and less of a pain in the as*.

You couldn't eat the bread because it "had stuff in it"? What, like fish heads or candy-coated turds or something? Everything else you ate made you want to puke?

On the off chance that these guys weren't the most horrible cooks in the world, I'm going to suggest you learn to appreciate more things a little more easily. If you can't do that or are unwilling to do that, next time find some way to meet them that doesn't include dining at their home.

I know plenty of people who think almost everything but a very small numbers of foods are disgusting -- and the foods they pick often aren't even that great. Again, unless theses people are truly abysmal cooks, I wonder if you just missed out on an adventure by recoiling at the unexpected and the new instead of trying it gamely and having fun with it.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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the polite thing to do is to not act like a little kid and eat the food like a normal person. It's not going to make you vomit, just be an adult and try something new, it's [censored] vegetables not cow dick

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It'd be difficult to be more correct.

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Agreed.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

I would love to hear what kind of "weird crap" the bread had in it. Those [censored] vegetarians and their crazy bread.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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On the off chance that these guys weren't the most horrible cooks in the world, I'm going to suggest you learn to appreciate more things a little more easily. If you can't do that or are unwilling to do that, next time find some way to meet them that doesn't include dining at their home.

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Fair enough.

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I know plenty of people who think almost everything but a very small numbers of foods are disgusting -- and the foods they pick often aren't even that great.

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You can now add another of these people to your list.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

this thread is a great gauge of how much i like different posters.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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this thread is a great gauge of how much i like different posters.

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Well, I thought some would make me feel better based on "hey, they should give you some sort of warning." However, it would seem I've been correctly rebuked.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

They were [censored] dicks for not telling you. Correct play now is to 10-year-old it; scoop some into your napkin and chuck it down the toilet every 15 minutes.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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this thread is a great gauge of how much i like different posters.

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Well, I thought some would make me feel better based on "hey, they should give you some sort of warning." However, it would seem I've been correctly rebuked.

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Well, I think it would have been polite of them to mention that is was going to be a vegetarian meal ahead of time since those arent really that common, but it is still food so I don't think it was necessary. Its not that bad, suck it up and try something new.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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the polite thing to do is to not act like a little kid and eat the food like a normal person. It's not going to make you vomit, just be an adult and try something new, it's [censored] vegetables not cow dick

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This is so perfectly stated.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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this thread is a great gauge of how much i like different posters.

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Well, I thought some would make me feel better based on "hey, they should give you some sort of warning." However, it would seem I've been correctly rebuked.

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I do think that they probably should have let you or your wife know, but that has no bearing on how you should react to it. (Assuming you want to keep these people as friends.)

-d

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

Do you seriously not even know what the food was? You didn't even try to find out?

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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This reminds me of when I goto foreign countries and the bastards dont even speak english

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Yes.

To the OP:
I'm a vegetarian and do you know how many times I have to *remind* people that I'm a vegetarian when they invite me over for dinner?

First, I usually say, "no thanks."
Second, I suggest going out to a restaurant where I know I can get something I can eat.
Third, I might finally say "Sure. Can I bring a vegetarian dish to share?"
Fourth, I eat something before going over to their house or I pack a cliff bar in my purse to eat in the bathroom when they starve me.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

To the OP: have you invited them over for dinner recently and served them flesh? It might have been payback [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

Tell them your a carnivore.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

I'd just take it like a man and eat it. Of course you might not like it no matter what, but at least you'll know what you don't like later. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Also, plenty of things you eat on a regular basis you may have not liked originally anyway.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

q,


I think that if they are planning on serving a "regular" dish that just happens to be vegetarian, then they dont need to mention anything. (think of things along the lines of spaghetti with a non-meat red sauce)


However, if they are going to serve an "alternative" meal, then I think they should probably mention this beforehand. (Like, if they are serving a meal that only vegetarians would eat).


Either way, Id do my best to just try to suck that stuff down.


Also, what was possibly in the bread??

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

q,

I am the first one to rip on vegetarians, especially Paluka, but wow, wtf, man?

IT'S VEGETABLES. How the f do you have this reaction to eating VEGETABLES?

I mean, I can see you posting "wow, invited to dinner and I was STARVING after dinner, WTF MATE?"

But your post is just bizarre.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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q,


I think that if they are planning on serving a "regular" dish that just happens to be vegetarian, then they dont need to mention anything. (think of things along the lines of spaghetti with a non-meat red sauce)


However, if they are going to serve an "alternative" meal, then I think they should probably mention this beforehand. (Like, if they are serving a meal that only vegetarians would eat).


Either way, Id do my best to just try to suck that stuff down.


Also, what was possibly in the bread??

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Seems like a fair plan. If it was some seaweed type dish, or something odd like that, they should have let you known. I would guess that the bread had like pinenuts or something, I dunno. Anyway, OP could have also asked what the dish was, If he didn't know. That doesn't seem that strange of a question to ask.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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Doesn't it just seem to make sense to have something "normal" prepared when you live in some weird diet world?[/.quote]

Uh, no. This is why I stopped giving dinner parties. Today people think you’re a freakin restaurant. I always loved it when I told people the menu and they started in with the “we don’t eat…I can’t eat…I prefer…. I’m on the XXX diet…so would you make…..” OK fine. DON’T COME TO MY PARTY.

Now in the OP’s defense I think the host should disclose the menu before hand, and when we’re invited out we always ask - I have a couple of food allergies and have to decline if those items are on the menu. But I’d never ask the host to change their menu.

Lastly, it sounds like the OP’s hosts were vegans vs. vegetarians. They should have mentioned this. The other possibility is they were just truly awful cooks.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

My wife and I don't eat meat.

If we invite people over we usually let them know if the food is going to be non-traditional (if we're serving lasagna or pizza or something, no warning necessary.)

And ignore everyone who's like "lol, invite them over and serve them . . . MEAT! That'll show the freaks!". Your vegetarian friends undoubtedly would have the good sense to inform their prospective hosts of their dieteary choice. You might consider doing the same when invited to anything but a cook-out:

"Hey, QTip, you wanna come over for dinner."
"Oh, thanks, that sounds nice, but I'm a really picky eater -- a meat and potatoes guy -- if that's a problem maybe we could all go out together. . . . and don't call me Q Tip."

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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I'm surprised to see that reaction from you, Q. Eat some of it, if you don't like it, don't eat that much, just tell them you're feeling a bit under the weather or some other face-saving excuse.

-d

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Yeah, I guess I suck at life. I just felt like this was pretty rude on their part. Perhaps, I was the rude one. I'll try to man up next time, but I've always been a puss with new foods.

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I like meep's advice here...and on the way home if you are still starving stop for a burger.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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Tell them your a carnivore.

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http://rocr.xepher.net/weblog/images/trex.jpg

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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"Oh, thanks, that sounds nice, but I'm a really picky eater -- a meat and potatoes guy

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WTF???

Since when is "Meat and potatoes" considered "picky?"

This is ridiculous. NON VEGETARIAN IS THE NORM. VEGETARIANS ARE THE EXCEPTION, NOT THE RULE.

Re: The Vegetarian Torture
 

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Do you seriously not even know what the food was? You didn't even try to find out?

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i also find this hard to believe. also, vegetables, even "disgusting" ones tend not to be inedible (like cow dick).