I do wish people would stop assuming all Vegetarians are meat-eater hating nutjobs. Personally I don't care what others eat, generally don't try to push my feelings on the matter onto others (actually my reasons for being a vegetarian have nothing to do with beliefs on animal welfare/etc anyway), think PETA are media spotlight grabbing loonies the same as most right thinking people seem to, etc. Sadly you can see it in peoples eyes if it comes up your Vegetarian, there's this slightly hunted "oh god, here we go" look (which usually goes away when I say "I'm not veggie for that reason, couldn't care less what you eat") - so whilst I sympathise with people who've encountered the more loony fringe vegetarians being sick of hearing about it (and rightly so), I'd suggest not retaliating against all vegetarians. That said, a few practices used in the food industry are somewhat unpleasant though - "being top of the food chain and eating other animals" is not quite the same as some of the practices being used in the food industry, including such things as Battery Farming, Veal, and additives such as Cochineal/Carmine (a red dye made from extracts from insects/beetles) and Gelatine (maybe that's just me though :p). A bit of research into the matter is always interesting (or not if you don't want to put yourself off these foods). As for the OP, I'm split 66% FML for the inane reaction of the bloke, 33% YDI for perhaps being a little tactless in bringing up a controversial subject with someone just met (though perhaps you didn't realise).

#53 :D

41- Is there really a humane way to kill something? 59- Screen name FTW

Veal > some loser guy

#86 Agree with everything you said!!! OP I'm glad this guy showed you what a moron he is so early. There's nothing wrong with being vegetarian (I don't personally agree with it, but hey, I'm not going to jam my opinion down other people's throats), but it pisses me off so much when people get really over the top and irrational about it. You're so much better off without him!

oh veal is just awful. the do horrible things to those baby cows. you shouldn't eat it!

#72- I think you have it mixed up. When #59 sent that Speciesism Wikipedia link and quoted it to #50, its because #50 said that he thought speciesism was the stupidest thing he ever heard and thought it had something to do with animals being equal to humans. I'm a vegetarian- I've always dated meat eaters ( Most of us do.) It's not about forcing our views of "OMG YOU EAT MEAT!!" onto someone... Its the fact that they eat VEAL. I know many meat-eaters who eat everything BUT veal because they know how horrible it is. The cow is kept in a wooden crate the same size as itself because any exercise would cause MUSCLE gain... and MUSCLE doesn't taste good. The crates are wooden for fear that if they have metal bars the calf will lick them and absorb a little iron. We are at the top of the food chain for a reason.. We have the ability to reason and think logically. Thats what got us here. If you aren't able to see how inhumane that is then maybe you deserve to be back on the bottom eating algae and pond scum.

#100 ftw.

You're better off without him, I wouldn't be surprised if he's one of those douchebags throwing red paint at people wearing (fake or genuine) fur coats too. There are other, more intelligent ways to tell someone you don't agree with them than damning them to hell and telling them to lose your number.

Alan....I'm waiting ahaha couldn't you have just said chicken? it's the safest thing you can go with talking to a vegertarian or not, I guess everyone knows that the young cattle used for veal don;t even see the light of day.