Nothing on the Menu

Well, my dear Fabian, that is the way life is sometimes. Let me explain…

You and I now live in a part of the world dominated by meat. Life is one big butcher shop here. Everyone is constantly on the lookout. Eyes pealed, geolocation fine-tuned, it’s all about finding that juicy grade A piece of meat. Of course, there are vegetables on offer but not those long crispy carrots or huge grilled aubergines and courgettes you long for. Here, in this little town, as veg goes, you only get new potatoes and sweet peas. Now, I know you have nothing against peas and potatoes, but having a bigger selection of vegetables would be better, n’est ce pas ?

I watch you, when we go out with our mates in the evening. The menus fly open and everyone starts looking for something they fancy — and many even get more than they can handle in one sitting and end up taking home a dish to enjoy the next day.

You, on the other hand, being a vegetarian and given the state of our current carnivorous society, you don’t ever seem to find a dish you really like. Now, I know, though you’ve never tried meat, it’s just not your cup of tea. That’s ok! C’est la vie! It’s no big deal! Live and let live, I say. But therein lies the problem. Whether we are vegetarian or pescatarian, whether carnivarian or episcopalian, we must always adapt to our environment. We must learn to fit in without betraying our values or denying who we truly are. Adapt and make the best of a momentary situation. That is the key to success and happiness.

As for the society in which we live, there really are only two true solutions:

1. move somewhere else where there are other dishes to take home, or
2. take matters into our own hands, go into the kitchen, skin the carrots and heat up the aubergines ourselves.

That is my philosophy in life. Don’t complain about that which we have not but be thankful for that which we have. Because the difficulties we experience now are only temporary. The day will come, soon, when we too will find that piping hot dish we so long for. If not here, then elsewhere!