A business lunch, with a person you’ve never met. We meet halfway between our mutual offices, at your standard American fair restaurant. The waiter mentions the soups of the day are vegetarian black bean, and chicken noodles.
Not wanting to make a big deal out of the fact that I’m a vegetarian, I politely ask for the soup and salad combo then, black bean and if you can hold the bacon bits on the salad, please. The waiter says no problem.
My soup arrives… it looks delicious. After the first few spoonfuls, not really paying all that much attention to it, I’m trying to focus on the conversation and business at hand, I notice it. Bacon. Small simmered minute chunks of it in my vegetarian black bean soup.
What is a guy to do? I focused and tried to ensure I minimized my bacon intake, going after the beans only, and wound up leaving a good portion of the soup behind. I’m sure I only had a little bit, and it isn’t the end of the world or anything, just the principle. Thankfully the salad was bacon free.
What have you been tricked into over the years while trying to maintain that vegetarian lifestyle? How did you avoid it, or minimize it when in mixed company?