Everyone's diet is personal to them, and nobody can tell you what you can or can't eat - what you fuel your body with is totally your choice. So when one woman's boyfriend's stepdad told her that her vegan diet was "nonsense" she immediately became defensive.
The pair were at loggerheads about whether veganism was an acceptable lifestyle choice, and when the woman said she didn't want to eat "body parts", he complained he found her "disrespectful."
But when her boyfriend asked her to "fix" the situation, she was left baffled, as she felt as though she hadn't done anything wrong except for living life on her own terms.
She took to Reddit to share that she and her boyfriend had been together for over three years, explaining that she'd had problems with her boyfriend's mum and stepdad in the past, but now they seemed to "accept" her, despite their rocky past.
She wrote: "Five months ago, I decided to go vegan. My boyfriend has been very supportive all the time (he even eats a lot of vegan food now, too) and when we visited his parents, his mum would also prepare something for me to eat. I told her thank you and how much I appreciate that.
"I've never commented on their food or started a discussion about being vegan because I know it's neither the time nor the place to do that. I realise they are not interested in it and I'm just glad that we get along, to be honest."
But a couple of weeks ago, things turned sour again during a "birthday brunch" which was set up for her boyfriend. Her partner ensured there was vegan food for her, and for "his family to try some if they wanted to."
She continued: "My boyfriend also put bacon and 'vegan bacon' on the table. At this moment, it was his stepdad, his sister, and me at the table when his stepdad loudly comments something about how stupid the idea of 'vegan bacon' is and who even needed that nonsense.
"I didn't think much of it and responded to him, in the nicest voice I had, that vegan bacon was a great alternative if you like the taste of bacon but don't like eating body parts. Now he's furious complaining he hasn't ever heard such nonsense as meat being called body parts and how stupid that was. My boyfriend's sister asked if he was fine and why he was so angry.
"When we finally ate, I asked my boyfriend's brother-in-law for the egg salad (which was vegan too). So stepdad asked me if I'm now going to eat dead baby animals. I respond that technically there's no baby unless the egg was fertilised but it wasn't real egg anyway. This is when his mum steps in and says everyone should just eat their own food now and leave others alone."
She then went on to share that her boyfriend's parents spoke to him about the drama, and his stepdad had said he wasn't happy, accusing her of being "disrespectful towards him." The woman said she thought his reaction was "ridiculous", and she was shocked her boyfriend asked her to "fix" it, saying she didn't think it was her who owed an apology.
But she said that she would apologise for her boyfriend's sake - despite the fact she thought her boyfriend's stepdad was playing "stupid games."
In the comments, people defended the woman, because she was speaking the truth and her boyfriend's stepdad was being "unnecessary" with his attitude, and "rude."
One wrote: "Not the a**hole. I'm an avid meat-eater, half my family is in the butcher business, and I dislike preachy vegans as much as anyone.
"The original was not being preachy. The father-in-law instigated this entire thing. His comments were unnecessary and rude, especially considering his son's girlfriend of three years is a vegan. And I see very little failing on the original poster's part here. Meat literally is body parts, that's not some kind of insult, that is the reality of meat. It's no more an insult than saying someone having a salad is eating plants.
"Anyone getting so bent out of shape over that just doesn't like to confront the reality of what they're eating."
Someone fumed: "Exactly what it is. People who wanna eat it but be in denial about it. Own your choices or go vegan."
Another raged: "Meat eaters who are offended someone called meat what it is should probably look into plant-based diets."
Have you got a story to share? Email: danielle.wroe@reachplc.com
