A handful of my readers will be able to sympathize with me, while I know others of you may think I'm making more of a big deal out of this than necessary.....

Yesterday, suffice it to say, I had a MISERABLE day at work. I cannot express to you how bad it was. Let me just say this: at one point, I was so distraught that I was hyperventilating. Yeah. Not good.

So anyway... the day continued to deteriorate. And then...

*IT*

happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After work, Ben and I stopped into our local grocery store Publix. At all of the stores, they have this kiosk set up inside where a lady demonstrates a new recipe and places samples out for the customers to taste. The recipe cards are free and the binder to put them in is less than $10. In fact, the recipe cards are so detailed and have such great photos that I have sent many to my sister. At one point, I even bought her the matching recipe binder.

As I passed by the kiosk, I read the sign "advertising" the sample of the day. It read: "Pan-Fried Fish and Salad". Well, who am I to pass up fish? And besides, it was a rotten day and I was hungry.

I swipe one of the small styrofoam plates and walk towards produce to retrieve the bananas that I had gone to the store for in the first place. As I put the first bite into my mouth, I thought, "Hmm... this has an interesting texture." Second bite (there was only enough for 2 bites) and something in my head thought, "Gee, this doesn't seem like fish. Maybe it's a different fish I've never had before or maybe the way it was prepared made it taste differently." Then I walked back to the kiosk and asked the demonstrator what kind of fish did she prepare.

She replied in an old-Southern accent, "Oh, Honey.. that ain't fish you're eatin'. It's chicken."

I was dumbfounded and frozen in place for a moment. Tears pricked my eyes. In disbelief I said aloud, "I am a vegetarian and I just ate chicken?" It was as though I was asking the universe if this could actually be true. Another of the customers standing there flippantly spit out, "It's just one piece. It ain't gonna kill you."

No. It won't kill me. But this is something that I believe in. Something that I'm passionate about. Something that is important to me. Would that lady (or anyone else) have had the same comment if I had been a recovering alcoholic and been given a drink spiked with spirits? I think not!

It bothers me that because being a vegetarian is not the norm, people scoff at this kind of of thing. It doesn't matter the SUBJECT, if a person has a belief system (whatever it is) that is integral to who they are, why mock that?

When Ben came around the corner he could see instantly that something was wrong. He inquired and with tears still in my eyes, I proclaimed, "I just ate chicken." I was heart-broken. He could see my pain. He put his arms around me and squeezed. Of course, this made me feel better.

I decided to make a mention of this to the store manager; he and I have a friendly rapport. Whenever I see him (which is very often since I shop there a lot), I always say hi. I started out the conversation like this:

Me: "I know this might not be important to you, but it is to me."
Manager: "Yes..."
Me: I explain to him what transpired...
Manager: "Why does the sign say "Pan-Fried Fish then?"
Me: "I don't know. I don't want the lady to get into trouble, but I'm just suggesting that the signs should match the food being presented."
Manager: "I agree... I'm going to go change the sign right now."
Me: "Thank you and thanks for understanding."

So, talk about the icing on the cake for a shitty day. I almost feel like I need to go to a Catholic church and confess!! (just kidding...trying to look at the lighter side of this now)

Until next time...peace, love & HEALTH!!!