vegan - n. A vegetarian who eats plant products only, especially one who uses no products derived from animals, as fur or leather.

Disclaimer: I would like to put a disclaimer on this entry by saying that I am not against veganism and I have nothing against vegans or vegatarians, I am just posting observations to possibly create some discussion on the subject and to tell an interesting story.

Last night I went to the Olive Garden in Framingham to have dinner with Sarah, her friend Amanda, and Amanda’s boyfriend Tim. I made it in record time and was able to begin the 55 minute wait for a table before everybody else got there. Once the we were all there and seated the fun began. While ordering our food I learned that Tim was a vegan, which really intrigued me since I had never been to dinner with an active vegan. So of course he didn’t announce it right away, but asked the waiter about each dish and if it had cheese in it. He then asked to have the breadsticks without butter, which kind of disappointed me since it is the best part. At first I thought he was lactose intolerant ( or as I learned from him later a lactard), but eventually Sarah asked and he told us he was vegan. I didn’t inquire as to why, which I am regretting now, because I am very curious. We did have a small discussion about it and there was some debate about how evolved we are and whether are bodies truly are designed to digest meat, it got scientific, but I do remember his last words, “I guess I am just more evolved.” Finally the food came and after a quick inspection of the salad and an inquiry about cheese in the dressing we were able to eat. The waiter apologized for the delay on the breadsticks, but they had to bake a special batch for us. The next fun fact I learned was that he was straight-edge on top of being vegan and even avoids all forms of caffeine. I am trying to put together a list of the foods I wouldn’t be able to eat anymore and realize I should just make a list of the foods I do eat that I could still eat if I were vegan since it would include about ten things. The dinner continued with little talk about being a vegan, occasionally the girls would talk about science, but I would say the second most popular topic was Tim’s job as a teacher. He teaches Social Studies and had several interesting stories, it sounds like his class is one of the better to have, since he doesn’t give homework, because “I don’t want to correct it.” One more amusing tidbit was his constant use of “word” or “word up”.
For example:
Tim: So where are you from?
Me: Amesbury.
Tim: Rockin ( he possibly said representing) the North Shore. Word!
Me: Yep
It was a fun and memorable dinner. I definitely learned that I can’t be a vegan, first of all because I would miss pizza too much and because I would definitely be labeled “Keegan The Vegan”.

In my research of the topic I came across a great site showing Vegan Tattoos Strange things going on out there.

You see this crazy man decided not to breathe
He turned red and blue - purple, colorful indeed
No matter how his friends begged and pleaded the man would not concede
And now he�s dead you see the silly man should know you got to breathe
-David John Matthews
Lyrics or audio to Big Eyed Fish