Back home

I survived the road trip to Memphis!  It was a lot of driving, followed by a lot of heavy lifting and sweating, followed by even more driving -- but I'm glad I went.  I rode in the car with my dad for about 24 hours total, and it was quite enjoyable.  This is remarkable because my dad is the sort of guy that has 2 satellite radio stations programmed: the 60's station and Fox News radio.  Ultimately, we're more alike than we are different, but there are a few discussions we just have to choose to avoid.

So what about the food?  As predicted, I spent a fair amount of time at Subways.  My fave: footlong veggie on wheat with oil and vinegar and all the veggies!  One place had guacamole, which the Subways back home don't have anymore, so that was a nice addition.  There were some lowlights, though:  McDonald's.  I never eat at McDo because the only thing I can get is fries and I don't like their fries.  But we found ourselves at McDo twice.  So I ate the fries.  The first time, I tried to get a salad.  There was something on the salad menu called "fruit and walnut," and so I asked:
"So, what is that?  Just a salad with fruit and walnuts?" 
The confused and awkward cashier girl just mumbled "I don't know, yeah, I guess.  Maybe without lettuce." 
I was really puzzled, but thought this sounded promising.  "But there's no, like, chicken or cheese, right?" 
"Um, no?"  She responded. 
"Okay, I guess I'll have that." 
Well, that was a mistake.  It turns out it's a 3 compartment packet with one pouch of apples and grapes, one pouch of candied walnuts, and one pouch of vanilla yoghurt.  Oh.  The apples were actually quite nice and made good dippers for the candied nuts.  But yes, this item is clearly not vegan.  Boo.

And what does a vegan eat in Memphis when traveling with 3 omnivores?  Well, I had fries, onion rings...yeah, that's about it.  Want to see what a vegan eats on Beale Street?  Here it is:

Blehh --More onion rings!  The spicy barbeque sauce was quite wonderful, though.  Still, thank goodness for clif bars, primal strips, and fruit!  Yesterday, on the way home, we were thinking about stopping in Sikeston, MO at Lambert's Cafe for the famous "throwed rolls," but I announced, "Maybe we should just go to Subway again.  You know, the only vegetables I've had in two-and-a-half days have either been fried or in the form of V8 juice..."  So we went to Subway again.

In defense of Memphis, I could have tried a lot harder.  I'm sure there are more vegan-friendly restaruants than those I visited.  In fact, we originally were going to get dinner one night at Rendezvous, which is both world famous and the only barbeque restaurant my brother could think of that had a vegetarian section on the menu.  But there was an hour wait and we decided to go to Beale Street instead.  Maybe it makes me a "bad" vegan, but I'm happier to eat onion rings (again) than to drag my family all over creation finding a place I can eat actual food.  I want to appear like the most laid back vegan ever.  That's my strategy.

That is, until I see the horse-drawn carriages.  Yes, they're romantic, but when my brother's girlfriend said, "Look, horses!"  I just couldn't stop myself from saying, "Look at how they're suffering." She immediately agreed, and I don't think my brother or dad could argue, but then we launched into a discussion about the relative intelligence of different farm animals.  ... Yeah, this is one of those conversations I try to avoid having with my dad, who was a farmer and a country minister before we moved to the "city" shortly after I was born.  This is particularly a conversation I would rather not have late at night when we're all cranky and tired after a day of moving heavy furniture and when we still have to walk all the way back to the car and drive all the way back to campus.  But, being the passionate vegan I am, I couldn't help but speak in defense of pigs. 

Pigs, which everyone agrees are the smartest animals, are also probably the most dangerous.  As my brother said,
"They're really intelligent, but they're also total assholes, so I don't feel bad about eating them." 
I responded by saying, "They don't have to be.  Some people keep pigs as pets and they are as affectionate and easy to train as dogs.  Pigs are only dangerous after we torture them." 
"But," my dad pointed out, "dogs are naturally affectionate.  Some of these rescue dogs have been tortured horribly, but are never as dangerous as pigs.  They have the capacity to still be gentle and loving." 
"Well," I replied, "maybe we shouldn't be juding the goodness of an animal by its ability to tolerate cruelty.  I, for one, don't judge pigs for holding a grudge for being tortured.  I certainly wouldn't forgive anyone who tortured me the way we treat pigs."
After this, we were all too tired or half-drunk to argue any more about it.  Which is probably for the best.

That's how most of my animal rights discussions with my family go.  Which is why I don't have them very often.  What do you do?  I wish I was more effective.

Well, at any rate, I'm home.  Time to spend a day recovering before the work week begins again tomorrow.  Have a good Sunday!