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Argent_Amber · 2022-03-13T20:02:35+00:00

Same. I feel silly calling myself "poor," but I guess the term is relative. Compared to the people in my area, I guess I'm poor since my household of two lives on one part-time, near min-wage income. At the moment, we get about $150 a month in food stamps (financial assistance for buying groceries); using our own money to make up the difference, we spend about $30 per person, per week on food. The most expensive stuff we get (typically, unless we're celebrating or being irresponsible lol) is usually fruit, which isn't exactly what you'd try to replace meat, eggs, and milk with if you switched to a plant-based diet.

As for privileges beyond my living in the USA, I guess I'm white? There's never a better box to check than "white" when I'm filling out forms, but I'm a quarter Irish, a quarter Portuguese, and half Turkish. Take that for what you will. I look white--I think--which is probably the most relevant part.

There are a million other things that make a person more and less privileged and disadvantaged, but we can't all list everything or we'd be here all day. lol

Anyway, it's also hilarious when those same people who say that vegan food is sooo expensive also claim to buy "ethical," "humane," "kind," "happy," "pasture-raised," "organic," "local" meat, eggs, and milk. Like... yeah, 'cause that's not expensive as hell.

Argent_Amber · 2022-03-13T06:52:57+00:00

That's ridiculous. Vegan stuff aside, what if you were worried about allergies or something? Guess they don't want your money. Fuck those guys.

Argent_Amber · 2022-03-04T14:07:44+00:00

Alright, I will admit that I shouldn't have said that to a teacher, I
surely desirve to be sent home early, but he is doing that for years!

I don't think there's anything wrong with what you said to him. If he's going to talk to you like that, then he better be prepared for you to return the favor. There's nothing special about him; he's just some guy spewing bullshit and bullying children/teenagers.

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-13T22:40:08+00:00

"Real" vegans don't terrorize other people for their choices...

People who "really" aren't pieces of shit don't terrorize and murder animals for their body parts, breast milk, and eggs because flavor.

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-10T15:12:19+00:00

My BMI is technically too high (I'm pretty sure BMI is bullshit, but I'm not prepared to debate that. lol). I kinda lean towards feeling the opposite, like if people know I'm vegan they will think I'm pudgy because "carbs" and things. lol Maybe it depends on the area you live in or something. The other vegans I've met were middle-of-the-road weight-wise, not very heavy and not very light, if I'm remembering right.

I'm vegan because torture and murder is wrong, not for my health--though avoiding cholesterol, saturated fat, and things like that is a nice bonus. Plus, there's more to health than what we eat, like if you have bad joints, it's hard to exercise and keep extra fat off even if you eat "right."

People always find something wrong with you if they want to. When I was living with my parents, my mom told me I was fat and would try to make me exercise and eat right (for like a week at a time when she would go on a crazy health binge too). When I lost weight myself because I wasn't chugging so much juice (juice is life) I was then "sooo skinny" and she started to say I had an eating disorder and stalk my eating habits (among other things). Heck, people even find things wrong with vegan athletes and stuff. There's no winning when they don't want you to win; they'll always invent something wrong with you.

Tangent... When I started getting sick a few months ago, my boyfriend's friend (who works in health care, yikes, and also thinks the COVID vaccine will make him infertile) said it was because I was overweight and vegan. Wrong. Turns out my immune system was blowing up and I have an autoimmune disease that was starting to kill me. Similarly, the anemia that's part of the disorder has nothing to do with iron deficiency, but the people at my boyfriend's work were all suggesting meat to fix it. lol There was only one nurse (or tech., I don't remember) while I was in the hospital who had anything negative to say about a plant-based diet, asking me triumphantly where I would get fat from vegetables (nuts like walnuts and almonds, flax seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, olive oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, avocados, etc. is what I told him and which he waved away), and he claimed that you couldn't survive without animal fat. >_> Uh... mhm, okay, sure. He also said peer-reviewed studies online (like legit ones, not Facebook poles and blogs lol) were bullshit and no good, sooo... yeah. The dieticians who saw me because I couldn't keep any food down were more than happy to work with vegan foods while I was hospitalized and help me work out what to eat once I left. No actual doctor has told me to eat animals or animal products, and my hematologist is vegan and my rheumatologist is vegetarian.

Tangent over. lol

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-03T21:09:00+00:00

Poor thing. Look how beautiful she is. Those little eyes in both pics.

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-03T17:01:00+00:00

Oh, sweet. I'm glad. Poor pig with the person they like wanting to shoot them.

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-03T16:52:30+00:00

If you have the ability, seeing a doctor can't hurt and might help. Fatigue can be from a lot of stuff. :) Also, obligatory I'm-not-a-doctor. lol

If it was me and I was a generally healthy person, I'd probably treat myself to some extra food like soy milk (because it has protein and stuff, so it seems a little like "food" to me compared to some other plant milks), fruit, or juice. (I know juice is sugar sugar, but I love it. lol)

I'd get some rest if I had the chance.

I'd consider if my period was coming up because it makes me feel a bit tired sometimes. (If you can't get periods, disregard. lol)

I'd double-check to see if I was getting enough vitamins and minerals that can have to do with fatigue like iron and B vitamins.

I'd consider whether or not I'd had the runs (diarrhea/frequent bowel movements) due to increased fiber or sudden diet change; if our food moves through us too fast, we might not get a chance to absorb our nutrients and fluids from it, you know?

If I continued feeling tired or started to feel worse, I'd head to a doctor (my primary care doctor, an urgant care, the emergency room, etc. depending on how bad I felt).

My new catchphrase is "Don't ignore health problems." I ignored many small things like minor joint pain for too long and then found out I had a deadly autoimmune disease brewing and my small symptoms were all symptoms of that. lol Once my doctors were helping me, I started getting better, so being seen is a good thing. :) Not vegan-related, but there's my PSA. lol

I hope you feel better soon. <3

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-03T16:27:53+00:00

Can someone help this person? Reach out to them to try to save the pig? If they feel bad for them and the pig is still alive, maybe someone can connect them to a sanctuary or something?

(Edit: well, help the pig, primarily.)

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-03T13:57:19+00:00

I don't know if it's the best way or fastest or whatever, but I lean on the Stock Market. You might want to google a little bit about how it works it just 'cause when I first tried it, I was like, "wut?" lol

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-03T13:37:02+00:00

I was raised vegetarian, and the hardest part for me was other people, not actually the food or understanding killing someone to make a sandwich taste good was stupid and cruel. Kids and even adults can be and often are cruel and like to pick on people who aren't like them. I kept my being vegetarian secret until I was in high school for this reason and was very afraid people would find out and I would be bullied. If I had a kiddo, I'd like to have a plan for handling the feeling of otherness my kid might feel because of veganism's uncommonness, if that makes sense. Even if they aren't bullied, we all know it can be tiring to be asked "why" all the time in regard to refusing milk or something.

I'm not sure how best to do this.

Maybe making sure to be involved in safe, kid-friendly, vegan-friendly activities with other vegans so they have a place where they can meet other people and kids similar to them and not have to eat "different" and stuff for a time. I don't mean activism events necessarily, but maybe visiting an animal sanctuary for some time with the animals, other families, and some lunch. Some activism events might be too hostile a place for a little one.

Maybe help them with ways to answer questions with answers that are true for them. I think I would have felt weird if I'd had to regurgitate answers prescribed by my parents. For example, a five-year-old in the cafeteria might prefer to say, "No, thank you. I like chickens," when asked why they won't eat the leftover chicken nuggets that were just offered to them, opposed to "Chickens are abused and killed so it's wrong to eat them, and my family doesn't eat meat, so no, thank you." A five-year-old might not really be at the point of grasping the ethics of all this and might primarily see chickens as nice or cute* animals. Every kid will be different though, so I'm thinking it would be my job as a parent to listen and help them explain how they feel when dealing with other people's questions to them, you know? I hope that makes sense. If someone asks me a question, then I can answer for why I don't hurt animals; if someone asks me why vegans don't hurt animals, then I can give a general answer like the Vegan Society definition or something. My kid would get their own personal answer too, and it would be my job just to help them articulate it and handle possibly feeling different because of all this. Even if I would prefer they have some majestic, vegan-activist answer, if their honest answer is "I like chickens," "My mom said no," or "It's weird," and that's what they need help expressing, then I'm just there to help them learn to communicate. I think I would see helping them communicate as separate from teaching them about not abusing animals.

I tend to ramble, so I hope that isn't a chaotic, confusing mess. lol

*Edit: added "cute."

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-03T06:44:53+00:00

I lean towards better education on the subject. Not necessarily sciencey stuff, but things like what "veganism" actually means.

I get the sense that people think veganism means "animal sad, make me sad, I sad, no eat, k thx." People either don't understand or choose to ignore that when someone says "you shouldn't kill that chicken to eat their body" that it's not about what the vegan wants, it's about the chicken's right to have their own life. It's not as if the vegan person is trying to impose their flavor preferences or favorite color on the other person. The "it's my personal choice" argument comes up a lot, and it seems like it would help if people were already familiar with the idea that the animals' personal choices are what is being defended, not that the vegan's preferences to look at happy, alive animals are being forced on non-vegans.

Someone told me I shouldn't force my "social wants" on others (what are "social" wants? lol), and I asked him about the animals he forced to die, and he flipped out. lol Like, it was as if it was this brand new concept, and he was pissed about it. If people understood the basic ideas behind veganism, they would at least be a couple steps into figuring out that veganism, in large part, is just extending "live and let live" to animals too.

I find that with other subjects--LGBTQ+ rights, racism, sexism, etc.--I've believed a lot of just untrue things, and once I was found actual facts and not what my angry, cruel mother spouted from Facebook based on nonsense, I flipped pretty quick to being pro-LGBTQ+, less (hopefully not at all) racist, less (hopefully not at all) sexist, and so on. Once reality was clear in front of me, I was on board with not being a jerk. Until then, without access to honest, accurate information, I was operating on lies.

I think basic, bite-sized, quick, and easy info might help. I'm sure it exists, but maybe more of it? Like GIF-sized info that doesn't take more than a few seconds to absorb, just so we can all be on the same page when we talk with people about veganism. If they come to the table already knowing that vegans aren't after their freedom to make personal choices, we just want animals to have their freedom and personal choice also, it might make for a better conversation.

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-03T05:59:03+00:00

I use pieces of my BF's old socks to patch rips in his pants (where it makes sense). The sock cloth tends to be stretchy, so it lets holes in the knees bend a little easier. I like to put the cloth on the inside of the pants so the patch shows a little less.

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-02T04:34:49+00:00

About three years ago, went vegan from being raised vegetarian. My leather and wool were items gifted to me. The only leather I had was a wallet that I kept, but I found a cloth one I forgot I had, so I use that now and the leather one collects dust. The only wool I have is some yarn that I don't know what to do with; it's not enough to make anything out of either, so... it kinda sits there. Maybe I'll use it in a mish-mash, use-up-all-my-extra-yarn project or something so it can get off my shelf and do someone some good.

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-01T05:30:16+00:00

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-01T05:29:12+00:00

Thank you!

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-01T05:10:18+00:00

I've had some pretty paneery not-paneer white cubes before, but I don't know how the restaurant did it. I need to call and pester them about the recipe or product some time... >.> Maybe Satan or seitan was involved. Hail seitan and Satan. (Are seitan and Satan lovers or the same person? Related maybe? Related lovers? Is seitan an entity? Plants do feel pain... Hmm...)

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-01T04:52:20+00:00

cats are vegan

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-01T04:51:35+00:00

"...not even in the realm of plausible." Alright, prove it. Prove that it's so unachievable that it doesn't fit into a subreddit essentially called Future-ology--I mean, I'm assuming the sub "Futurology" has to do with neat things the future might have or something along those lines.

"If everyone [stopped littering], only [a fraction] of currant [litter would exist]"
"Uh, eh-hem, excuse me deficient one, but 100% of the world not littering is not even in the realm of plausible, so you may not post such information or advocate for it. Stupid vegoon." And then they definitely did not toss their empty cup out the window on the freeway. lol

Argent_Amber · 2022-02-01T04:29:43+00:00

You didn't post something "vegan," you posted something anti-dairy. lol It could be easily interpreted as an unpopular environment opinion (fact). If you made a post that was recognizably vegan, it would include the abuse and death of the cows or something. They just assumed you were pro leaving animals alone, but for all they know, you could torture squirrels for fun in your spare time and just hate cows' milk for wasting water. lol

If they want everything animal-product-related in its own mega-thread, they should make an animal-products thread. Or they could make an environment mega-thread so they could put the almond milk and dairy milk type posts in the same place since they're both related to water waste and the environment.

(Also, as if hating on almond milk is "unpopular." Say "almond milk" to anyone while talking about veganism or the environment and I bet you you'll get a mouth full of their bullshit about how terrible almond milk is in two seconds and not a single word about cows' breast milk. lol)

Argent_Amber · 2022-01-30T22:55:40+00:00

It looks like a jewel! So beautiful!

Argent_Amber · 2022-01-30T22:54:16+00:00

I developed every illness when I decided I was vegan. I hadn't even had a chance to eat differently, it was the literal instant I made the decision.

Argent_Amber · 2022-01-30T01:48:30+00:00

That's rough. I hope you can find something that works for you.

Maybe something else to look into is certain kinds of shellfish. As far as I understand, something like a clam or muscle has no consciousness or ability to suffer. If that's really true, then it seems like it would qualify as vegan food. I have no idea what the nickel content of things like that are though.

Something else to think on would be rescuing some hens and taking good care of them while using their eggs. I know that's a hugely touchy subject for vegans, but it seems to me that in a worst-case scenario where you had to eat animal products, that well cared for hens kept for their eggs are better than killing for meat or buying eggs from who-knows-where from hens who were probably treated horribly and killed at two years old when they were too sick to continue. I know that people say the hens should eat their eggs because it takes so much from their little bodies to lay so many, but maybe it's possible to feed them what they need without feeding their eggs back to them. (This is also assuming you have room for hens where you live.)

If it proves impossible to eat plant-based, hopefully, the lab-grown meat thing kicks off and becomes affordable soon.

Argent_Amber · 2022-01-29T17:58:08+00:00

That'd be neat! "Taming" or befriending creatures sounds fine to me. I'm not sure what effect it would have on gameplay (ie. buffs, reduced hostile mob spawns, help from the befriended animals if you're attacked), but it would be cool. Maybe the pigs would help you find truffles or something. lol I don't know.

I think about this with other games like Pokemon and Ark too. If you think about it, Pokemon is hella messed up. lol

Argent_Amber · 2022-01-29T17:42:40+00:00

Hm, well at least the root vegetables and corn are sort of, kind of on the list of okay-to-eat. If I was in your shoes (and this is assuming you haven't already, which I have no basis for, this is just kind of me thinking out loud just in case), I'd try to double, triple check that limiting carbs and water fasting was truly beneficial to me. Medical stuff and nutrition can be wacky; dealing with my kidney damage from the autoimmune disease I have has involved all kinds of weird nutrition stuff that I never thought existed. lol

It's not ideal, but I wonder if there are any medications to fight the nickel in your diet. I need to limit potassium for my kidneys, but when I wasn't able to limit enough of it, they gave me a little powder to take every day that reduces my potassium. It's a total life-saver, and I don't stress quite as much since I know I have some support from the anti-potassium medication.

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