Ugh! So a couple of Troy's cousins were over, and one was saying how he's going to slaughter chickens tomorrow with his son. His son is 5! Gotta desensitize them young. They go pretty often, like once or twice a month lately. My heart hurts. Even the other family members made jokes about his son becoming a serial killer.
Then his other cousin was talking about how "great hunting is, and it's such a rush, and you've gotta try it".
It was a tough evening to get through. I wanted to speak up, but I didn't even know what to say. I know it's late, but had to say something to someone. <sigh>
On the bright side, when Troy told them he's been vegan for two weeks, the hunting one, said "awesome man, keep it up!"
The chicken slaughterer almost fell over from disbelief, but then he said he "just had my first meatless meal tonight, and it was really good and I actually felt good after". (He's dating a vegetarian.) So...little victories?
Sometimes I'm amazed at the amount of animal exploitation in my little community.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Making Sure Veganism Comes Up
One of the things that Colleen Patrick-Goudreau says, is that she makes sure that the topic switches to veganism during her conversations with strangers.
At first, that seems like a lot of pressure to 'perform' for the cause. You already know that my speaking skills aren't always accessible to me, but I'm finding myself doing the very same thing. For example, last week at the dentist, I asked the hygienist if she sometimes could identify what she was cleaning out of people's teeth. She said, for sure she could. Especially meat and popcorn kernels. Perfect!! She brought up meat! So I told her she shouldn't find any animal carcasses in my teeth. She asked if I was vegetarian, I said I was vegan, and we talked about nutrition for awhile. It was cool.
Today, I was taking a cab home from the rehab centre, and it came up again! :]
The driver asked what I did last night and I began to tell him about the film I watched(with my Facebook group, Queen City Vegan) Forks Over Knives. I explained how the film was about the health benefits of eating only plants and I told him I was vegan. I had to explain the difference between vegetarianism and veganism, but it was awesome!! Planting seeds. :]
At first, that seems like a lot of pressure to 'perform' for the cause. You already know that my speaking skills aren't always accessible to me, but I'm finding myself doing the very same thing. For example, last week at the dentist, I asked the hygienist if she sometimes could identify what she was cleaning out of people's teeth. She said, for sure she could. Especially meat and popcorn kernels. Perfect!! She brought up meat! So I told her she shouldn't find any animal carcasses in my teeth. She asked if I was vegetarian, I said I was vegan, and we talked about nutrition for awhile. It was cool.
Today, I was taking a cab home from the rehab centre, and it came up again! :]
The driver asked what I did last night and I began to tell him about the film I watched(with my Facebook group, Queen City Vegan) Forks Over Knives. I explained how the film was about the health benefits of eating only plants and I told him I was vegan. I had to explain the difference between vegetarianism and veganism, but it was awesome!! Planting seeds. :]
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Leafletting & talking to people
I find myself thinking about doing this type of activism more and more. Seems fairly peaceful and simple.
The one part that makes me uneasy, is I may have to talk to people. This isn't normally a problem. I was a pretty social person, and I'm easily approachable(I've been told).
Since the brain injury though, it's tricky navigating conversations. I'm definitely not as social for that very reason. For a long time I had to think about the way to form sounds to make words(how do I make a long 'a' sound again?). It was terribly exhausting, and it sometimes took a long time to say what I wanted to communicate. This was finally resolved sometime in December 2010. I still forget words from my vocabulary.
For example, talking to Troy about kitchen renovations, and I said "we should get a new oven-head". Troy replied, with a wry smile, "like...a range-hood?" Admittedly, it was pretty cute. We shared a laugh.
One of the coping skills I was taught, is to think of words that are related to the one I want to use. So if I can't think of the word 'chair', I'll call it a 'sitting-shelf''. It's not always perfect, true, but it gets the point across.
I'm afraid I'll run into that problem. It doesn't happen as often it once did, even months ago, but I don't want non-vegans to judge me as stupid, and I really don't want to represent veganism as that. It simply can't be helped. Chances are, you're the only vegan that that someone knows.
I think I just need a bit more time. Who knows, it could be really different in a month, I am improving quickly. And if I've learned anything from my brain injury, it's that "practice makes perfect". Which, isn't really true, but practice makes everything easier, for sure!
When I came out of the coma, I couldn't speak because I had a trach in my throat. So they tried to give me paper to communicate, but I just would write each letter directly on top of the last. Off to therapies! And lots of practice.
Honestly, I almost prefer to communicate through email(or whatnot) because I can take all the time I need to think of all the words I want to use, and to organize my thoughts. I love reading, so my vocabulary is pretty good and I sound pretty smart most of the time. <sigh> Just be patient. I guess.
The one part that makes me uneasy, is I may have to talk to people. This isn't normally a problem. I was a pretty social person, and I'm easily approachable(I've been told).
Since the brain injury though, it's tricky navigating conversations. I'm definitely not as social for that very reason. For a long time I had to think about the way to form sounds to make words(how do I make a long 'a' sound again?). It was terribly exhausting, and it sometimes took a long time to say what I wanted to communicate. This was finally resolved sometime in December 2010. I still forget words from my vocabulary.
For example, talking to Troy about kitchen renovations, and I said "we should get a new oven-head". Troy replied, with a wry smile, "like...a range-hood?" Admittedly, it was pretty cute. We shared a laugh.
One of the coping skills I was taught, is to think of words that are related to the one I want to use. So if I can't think of the word 'chair', I'll call it a 'sitting-shelf''. It's not always perfect, true, but it gets the point across.
I'm afraid I'll run into that problem. It doesn't happen as often it once did, even months ago, but I don't want non-vegans to judge me as stupid, and I really don't want to represent veganism as that. It simply can't be helped. Chances are, you're the only vegan that that someone knows.
I think I just need a bit more time. Who knows, it could be really different in a month, I am improving quickly. And if I've learned anything from my brain injury, it's that "practice makes perfect". Which, isn't really true, but practice makes everything easier, for sure!
When I came out of the coma, I couldn't speak because I had a trach in my throat. So they tried to give me paper to communicate, but I just would write each letter directly on top of the last. Off to therapies! And lots of practice.
Honestly, I almost prefer to communicate through email(or whatnot) because I can take all the time I need to think of all the words I want to use, and to organize my thoughts. I love reading, so my vocabulary is pretty good and I sound pretty smart most of the time. <sigh> Just be patient. I guess.
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