I remember the evening before I had my first date. I was so excited about it. I wanted to make everything right. It should be a perfect evening because I knew that I had met someone very special. Okay, all of us had dates before. Some where unforgettable, others were maybe quite a mess. A date is something that makes us feel excited about life. It probably makes us more alive than anything else. That’s why we want to be sure that we don’t blue it so we can get more of that thrill on the next date. However, when you are about to date a vegan it might need a more careful preparation to make sure that your date is not over before it had even started. And believe it or not: There are some very valuable “rules” when dating a vegan that you should not ignore. This way, you make sure on that evening you are a victor and not a victim for lack of sensibility. Follow these awesome tips by Zoe Eisenberg and you are ready to go for your first day with a vegan.
“More and more vegans are popping up across the country as the plant-based lifestyle continues to trend. Celebrities are jumping on board, mega chains like Chipotle andSubway are swinging things meat-free. Heck, even Silicon Valley is in, with Bill Gates funding vegan mayo and the Twitter co-founders backing a new faux meat. So now that there are more vegans, there are also more omnivores out there dating vegans. This is where things can get weird. While dating a vegan is not that fundamentally different than dating anyone else (even vegans like kicking back a beer and binge-watching House of Cards), there will be bumps along the way, like when deciding on a restaurant or battling about the ethics of your favorite leather recliner.
Below are a handful of tips for dating a vegan. Don’t worry, I promise not to tell you to lay off the bacon.
Respect their boundaries, but hold true to your own. Hopefully, your vegan does not expect you to ditch meat, just like you don’t expect them to start binging on burgers. That being said, dating a vegan may require a bit more compromising than you’re used to. From simple things like choosing a restaurant, to bigger issues like whether or not they’re comfortable with meat in the house, the lifestyle offers up complexities you will not encounter when dating another omnivore. Open up a line of communication and find a comfy middle ground you can both get behind — separate pots and pans, anyone?
Keep an open mind. Many non-vegans have a skewed idea of what being vegan is actually about, which perhaps can be blamed on the more aggro activist side of the movement. Often, when people hear “vegan” they picture angry paint-slinging, forum-trolling types, and this just isn’t the case for all. There are dozens of different kinds of vegans, from juice junkies, to philosophers, foodies, athletes, yoga bunnies and everything in between. Try and drop any pre-existing notions of what it means to be vegan, and follow the lead of your partner. Ask why they went vegan — their response may surprise you.
Keep an open mouth. While no two people (or two vegans) are the same, it is safe to say that most vegans are pretty food-focused. If you search the #vegan hashtag on Instagram, you will find the feed littered with lunch shots. Now that you’re dating a vegan, you can expect to be introduced to some vegan fare. Don’t panic. Some plant-based fare may sound or look a bit foreign — seitan, nutritional yeast, chlorella — but good food is good food, period. Whether it’s meaty or vegan or gluten-free, if a dish is prepared well, it will taste good. So give your partner’s cooking a shot before you start mainlining deli meat when they’re in the bathroom.“
To read the rest of the article by Zoe Eisenberg, check it out on the original source over at Huffington Post.
Image Source: Al Fernandez
🙂
I support this 🙂