Wanting to Talk

2029: Posted Wednesday 5^th July

Wanting to talk

Amongst vegans and non-vegans, we should be able to rub along together. We can insist on it. The potential of our ‘omnivore - vegan interface’ lies in talking together, understanding where each is coming from. Probably, for the omnivore, they haven’t thought much about ‘animal issues’ before, and for the vegan it’s likely we’ve forgotten how we came to ‘it all’ in the first place. If we’ve been vegan for a long time, can we remember what were our triggers at the outset?

When there’s dialogue happening, things can come alive. Perhaps out of the blue the ‘subject’ comes up, the issues spring up ‘loudly’ and you can cut the atmosphere with a knife. The resistance-shutters come down, and so quickly too, especially if you’re already known to be ‘a vegan’. Suddenly, we are front stage, speaking, and then it’s a matter of how we pitch what we have to say.

Anyone listening may genuinely want to find out certain things, but they’ll be hoping not to cop a lecture. What a vegan might want to say is almost certainly more than we’ll be wise to say. For us it’s a case of guessing how genuine the interest is and why there are questions in the first place. If we’re given the go-ahead to speak, we need to know we have the right also NOT to comment, if we sense a hostility brewing. Often, we need to take the initiative, and drop the subject.