Case 1
A while ago, I happened to be driving
home from a
conference held in another part of the
country, quite far from everything else. I had been driving for some
time and felt
ravenously hungry, as people are wont to do after wasting their weekend with
brainless group dynamics exercises. So quite naturally, I drove to the nearest
gas station in search of a decent
sandwich.
Once inside, I scanned the selection available. Uh-oh, I thought, they all have ham or beef in them. I'm a vegetarian, so I asked the woman behind the counter whether they had any non-meat options.
"Weeelll..." She said, "those ones on the left are filled with sausages. Would you like one?"
Case 2
Three weeks afterwards, I participated in
another conference. This time the
organisers had arranged a meal for us, prepared and served by a
professional catering manager. I had asked beforehand whether they would prefer me to bring my own
food, and was replied along the lines of "
Don't worry, Be happy". The catering manager was informed about my
dietary requirements and would act accordingly, the organisers assured me
cheerfully.
Of course, when it actually came to eating, I was left standing before two vats filled with chili con carne and chicken sauce.
"But," I whined, "where is my vegetarian option?"
The catering manager smiled at me and pointed towards the vats. "Vegetarians eat chicken, don't they?" he replied.
Case 3
Another day, another conference, this time a very
formal one, with
people seated around the
table and
servants handing us our portions on
silver plates. When it was my
turn, I politely declined the offer of
smoked salmon and asked for a
special vegetarian option, which I had made a point of ordering beforehand.
The waiter's face was perplexed. "Miss, it seems we have no vegetarian options prepared. Would you like roast duck instead?"