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You could just say "oh...you're eating mashed potatoes...I thought you were vegan?" When she responds in a negative just say that they are made with dairy.
just a note, not all mashed potatoes contain dairy. a few posters in this thread seem to be assuming that. but if she's getting them from the cafeteria and you know they make them with dairy there, that's another issue. it's generally safe to assume that mashed potatoes from any non-vegan restaurant have dairy, but i wouldn't want someone watching me chow down on my homemade mashed potatoes saying "ooh, i caught a vegan eating dairy!".
she might be one of those people who thinks eating fish is vegetarian and simply not eating fish (or any other meat, of course) is vegan. or she might just not realize and think that mashed potatoes are nothing but potatoes, although she really should be checking into things like that if she's so concerned about being a vegan.
personally, if she wasn't preachy about it, i wouldn't say a thing unless i was friendly with her and felt comfortable pointing out that she might not realize that those potatoes have milk and butter in them. but since she's preachy, i'd totally tell her, framing it the same way, assuming that she doesn't know. if it turns out that she's just lacto-ovo, i'd just say "oh, i thought that was vegetarianism - i thought vegans didn't eat dairy." well that's what i'd say if i wasn't vegan myself - obviously i know what vegans eat! but if she confirms that she is indeed vegan and keeps eating the potatoes, i wouldn't say anything else, cause it's really not my business if she wants to "cheat".
i have a super preachy "vegetarian" coworker who eats fish and gelatin, and i have said something to her on occasion. i just pointed out that gelatin comes from cow bones, because i figured she might not know, and she was basically like "oh well" and i haven't said anything about it since. i have brought in some non-gelatin gel snacks and let her try them though. and i did once come out and say in an irritated way that eating fish isn't vegetarian when she annoyed me by referring to fish-eaters as "normal vegetarians". i kind of made a joke of it immediately after though, and told her she's a pescatarian, which she is. i was hoping that would stick with her, but it doesn't seem like it has.
..I sit right across from her, and she makes comments such as, "The smell of your ham sandwich is making me queasy." Or, (my personal favorite), "I prefer to eat at my desk because I can't spend much time around the carnivores in the cafeteria."
In this, any many other, situations, the appropriate response would be: "Farkofazole"
just a note, not all mashed potatoes contain dairy. a few posters in this thread seem to be assuming that. but if she's getting them from the cafeteria and you know they make them with dairy there, that's another issue. it's generally safe to assume that mashed potatoes from any non-vegan restaurant have dairy, but i wouldn't want someone watching me chow down on my homemade mashed potatoes saying "ooh, i caught a vegan eating dairy!".
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Very true groar. OR perhaps the cafeteria is especially nice to her and sets aside a small batch - although that would be pretty out of this world nice.
Quote:
Originally Posted by treebw
You could just say "oh...you're eating mashed potatoes...I thought you were vegan?" When she responds in a negative just say that they are made with dairy.
I like this idea treebw.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JA1961
You are exacty right. I sit right across from her, and she makes comments such as, "The smell of your ham sandwich is making me queasy." Or, (my personal favorite), "I prefer to eat at my desk because I can't spend much time around the carnivores in the cafeteria."
So, when I see her eating foods with milk, butter, etc., I just want to know if she's just plain ignorant about what's in her food, or ignorant about what constitutes a "vegan" or if she's just a big fat fake.
Thanks for the responses. They're great!
Hi JA1961, she really may not know. I say give treebw's qoute a shot.
I would just leave it alone since you don't know for sure what's in the mashed potatoes. Now if you catch her eating bacon, then it's okay to say something. I had a co-worker who was a vegetarian 'except for pepperoni pizza' and who would eat stuff with bacon bits in it at potlucks, it was really irritating because no one would take me seriously because of her.
Does she wear leather shoes or carry a leather handbag or purse? The vegans I know would do neither
I'm assuming she is "vegan" in her diet only - if eating animal products (and being around others who do) is so distasteful maybe she shouldn't be wearing them either
that's kind of a random assumption to make. although that is the case with my "vegetarian" coworker! i don't say anything to her about it though.
sendmorecops has a point that it's really not even definite that the mashed potatoes she was eating weren't vegan.
Last edited by groar; 11-24-2009 at 12:27 PM..
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