Veganism, a four letter word?

I was in Whole Foods today, waiting in the checkout line, listening to my ipod, and the lady next to me turns and flashes a grandmotherly smile and says “those look like good cookies.” I look over at her perfectly coiffed white hair and can’t for the life of me figure out what to say. I have a problem with conversing with strangers, obviously, so I just point lamely and say “they’re vegan!” And I smile because I feel like being nice. And her face doesn’t move, but from her reaction, you’d think I just vomited on the cashier and asked her if she wanted a taste.

What is it with people? How can they be so repulsed by something simply because it isn’t slathered in animal fat or bonded together by baby chicken sludge? For christ’s sake, we all eat plants. She had asparagus tips in her basket. Maybe I should have point out the pool of blood her roast beef was sitting in...

Of all the rebellious things I have done (and I’ve done a couple), I would have to say the most rebellious would be attempting a vegan diet. I have gotten more blank stares, patronizing questions and downright derision from family, friends, and strangers than I ever got with blue hair, piercings, etc.

I would have to say in the last nine months I have been doing this I have met less than 5 people who were well informed and supportive. And I live in southern California.Really, what is the big deal?

Is it that threatening to have someone who is trying to be healthy? Or perhaps they simply don’t want to think that their actions have consequences? That eating is political.

And as I watched my room mates cutting the tail off a fish with a dull pair of scissors tonight, meat just seemed fucking gross.

Where have all the rapists gone?

So I watched Gossip the other day. You know, the super glossy twenty-something thriller with loads of hot people just waiting to have sex populating the cast. And the female lead finally gets it on with the male lead on the kitchen floor. And we’re cheering for them cause she’s beautiful and he’s hot and charming and a bit of a bad boy. We’ve been with him the whole way, laughing at his brashness, falling for his seductiveness. He’s the guy you would die to hang out with or be or fuck indiscriminately on linoleum.

It turns out he’s a rapist. Sorry did I blow the ending for you? The movie’s still worth watching. But it got me thinking, cause I was taken in. I’ve had my share of cooler friends who seemingly take you under their wing, let you share the edges of the spotlight. They buy you drinks or let you hang out with them when they need a ride. They got it all, and you’re just happy for the ride. And watching this guy on screen, I would have overlooked a few warning signs that he shouldn’t be trusted if only for a faint green of the limelight to be cast on my face.

I’m getting off course. Facts. There are thousands of statistics out there about how many women have been raped or sexually assaulted. The numbers right now are pointing at 1in 4 or 1 in 3, depending on the source, we’ll go with 1 in 4. Say, just for simplicity sake that there are 250 million people in the US (I’m guessing)and half are women (125 mil) then 1/4 of that are sexual assault victims/survivors and that equals 31.25 Million female victims of sexual assault. Now, even giving a leeway for repeat offenders saying that the average offender assaulted 2 women, that leaves us with 15.6 million perpetrators of sexual assault.

Where do these people go? Who do they hang out with? Where do they work? How many of them do you know? Are you one of them? How do they fit in society?

How does this work? Are we supposed to befriend someone who is potentially violent. Someone who may just decide not to respect us because they have had a bad day and shatter our trust. The real question is, can someone ever be absolved of their crimes? When will they know in an absolute sense that they would never do this again?

And then, there are the people who never thought they did anything wrong. I guess it’s the same question as with a murderer: how do you know they won’t do it again? Even if this person is docile and sensitive now, they once weren’t. They once did something terrible. Committing a violent crime is like scarification. An act made of heat permanently marking one. And no matter how you hide it, someone will find it some day.