Not A Day Off For the Animals

The day I'm writing about is April 20th, 2011.

As I got ready for the day, it crossed my mind that I was a little crazy to be spending one of my rare days off being so busy with vegan activism.  Then I considered two things.

1.)  I'm happiest when I'm doing vegan activism (among other things I love doing).
2.)  The animals never get a day off.

So I spent a large portion of the day putting these together.

They are envelopes on which I painted "You're invited to Veganism".  Inside there's a card that says, "What's with the invite?  VEGANISM is a celebration of all life.  Learn more-->" On the inside of the card I put a vegan "business" card.  Also inside the envelope I put a PAN handout which had all kinds of interesting information.  So I put about 45 of these together, threw together a new vegan shirt, and then I walked to the library with Wayne Pacelle was scheduled to talk about his new book The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them.  

I was volunteering at the library on this night.  My jobs were to make sure no one sat in the first two rows because those seats were reserved with people who were associates of Wayne and to handle the microphone during the Q & A session at the end of the talk.  Wayne talked a lot about very specific travesties happening to animals.  Things like dog fighting, seal clubbing, horse meat, etc.  I don't like any of these things but the thing is, all animal use is unnecessary and I don't like any of it.  I don't see a point in talking to people about these very limited topics.  No, actually, I do see a point.  I understand that if you have a large percent of the population agreeing with something that is very easy to agree with, chances are, you'll be able to get some money out of this large population.  So, I get it.  But the talk just aggravated me so much!  All those people there, clearly, deeply interested in animal rights, and no mention of veganism!  What the hell?!  If you gave people a chance, they could get it!  But no, you spend the last seven-minutes of a 45-minute lecture talking about Asian shark fin soup.

There were various questions.  One that sticks out to me is a woman who was very passionately asking about stray cats.

"...they're behind every school, in every alley, in every barn, in nearly every place in the world.  What is HSUS doing for them?"

Wayne talked about various problems but the answer was lackluster and it was clear that the woman was not satisfied with the answer. 

Originally, I had planned to ask a question kindly suggested by a friend of mine.  But Asian shark fin soup had me so irritated that I switched gears.  I'll never know for sure if I made the right decision but watching everyone shake their heads in disgust as Wayne described the shark killing process really made my blood boil. 

I was the last person to ask a question and I asked, "You mentioned Asian shark fin soup and I'm wondering, what is the difference between shark fin soup and any other non-vegan food.  It's all unnecessary and it's all cruel.  We don't need animal products to survive.  All the animals used for food are treated equally cruelly and it's all not needed, so what's the difference because between shark fin soup and anything else that's not vegan."

Wayne replied, "I think what you're saying is we can live healthy without animal products so why not be vegetarian --"

"Vegan." I said.

"Vegan." He repeated.  "Well, it is true that we don't need animal products to live but for me I separate what is more cruel and what is more wasteful and to me, cutting fins off of sharks and throwing them back in the ocean just that.  But I understand the point you're making."

That was nearly as good of an answer as I could have expected.   

After the talk, I walked up the lobby with everyone else.  As a volunteer, during the book signings my assignment is to help people get their books personalized.  That involves writing their names on a post-it note, sticking the post-it on the book jacket, and folding the jacket on the title page.  As I did this, I gave anyone who wanted one an envelope.  I was pleasantly surprised that some people were already vegan!  How lovely!

While all this was going on, there was a vegan cake also in the lobby.  This cake was made by Vegan Treats, a heaven-sent bakery whose tasty slices leave me daydreaming for more nearly every day.

The owner was standing by the cake which shaped like a dog with a well-wishing, edible sign.  The cake was free for anyone at the event or even hanging out at the library.  There were also other Vegan Treat employees and an Animal Planet camera crew working on a special about Vegan Treats!  How exciting!

Once I was finished with my post-it job and handing out my info, I started a conversation with one of the Vegan Treat workers.  I was given a piece of cake though soon I gave the piece to a library-goer who was curious about what was going on.  I gave him the cake with an enthusiastic explanation that this cake was vegan meaning it was made with no animal products.

"So there's no milk, eggs, butter, or any other animal products in this!"  I told him.  He was intrigued and once he took a bite he was thrilled!  I helped myself to another piece of course!

Then, I got in line to get my book signed.  While in line, I spoke with the woman who had voiced her concern about feral cats.  She told me that she was very upset about how little Wayne addressed the problem with cats.  I told her that Gary Francione works with feral cats in New Jersey.  She was hopeful and interested.  I gave her an envelope and encouraged her to check out the abolition website and she could contact Gary through the site or the connected forum.  This seemed to help her frustration.  I was surprised and happy to learn that she was vegan!

Once I got the the front of the line, I talked to Wayne as he signed my book.  He thanked me for my question and said that he could tell I was very passionate about animal rights.  This is how he signed my book.

And this is how I fixed it.

I also gave Wayne one of my envelopes. 

I left the building unsure if anyone's mind was completely changed but glad that I had come.  On my walk home I realized, had I not been there, the word "vegan" would never have been mentioned.  I was proud of myself.  "It's a sad state for animal rights," I thought, "but at least I was there."

I Met The Greatest Living Legend You've Probably Never Heard Of

Gary Francione.  I met Gary Francione.  I told you you haven't ever heard of him.  Or maybe you remember the name vaguely because you are the one person who reads this and one of the people I live with and has to constantly hear about my rants and raves about animal rights.  Or maybe you've heard this name because you are one of my online vegan friends.  Or maybe you've heard the name because you are very in touch with the animal rights world.  But chances are you haven't heard this name and my excitement about meeting this person makes me an odd kind of nerd that you've never met before.  You didn't know there could be animal rights nerds, did you?  I didn't either until I discovered Gary and his following of sorts.   

An interview by The Believer.

On the first day of PAN vegan pledge, I introduced myself to the group a vegan mentor.  I told everyone that I was an abolitionist and I recommended that everyone check out the site.  The site is produced by Gary Francione who is in my opinion, the true father of the animal rights movement.  When it comes to the movement, he is my guiding star.  While I'm not a blind follower of the man, I have a hard time talking to others about veganism and related issues without echoing what I have heard Gary so many times before.  I strive to say things in my own way with new analogies and examples but truthfully, no one says things better than Gary.  No one I've discovered yet anyway.

Soon after my introduction, I mingled with the other mentees and mentors.  A young women about my age told me that Gary was coming to Philly to talk!  To Philly!  I had been dreaming of seeing him talk in real life!  Could this really be?

I found out the details and learned that Grindcore House, a South Philly Vegan coffeehouse, was going to be having Gary discuss his new book on February 5th.  I shared this news with people on the PAN Google group.  On this board, my friend and President of PAN posted that Gary would be talking to our pledge group earlier in that same day!  For real?!

I requested off of work for the entire day and eagerly waited for the day to come!

That Saturday, I was anxious.  I had been up late the night before baking cookies I had volunteered to make.  Because I wanted them to be perfect for Gary, as well as perfect for veganism, I taste tested each of the 6 trays that I baked.  This of course sounds fun, but by the end of the night I was an-overdosed-cookie-monster-mess.  I was stuffing cookies in my face with my eyes half-closed.  I was full and sleepy and I couldn't tell if the cookies would firm up properly with more time sitting or if I should put them back in the oven.  I now know letting them sit would have been better but I kept putting them back in the oven.  Some got hard, but most of them were still good, particularly when dipped in tea.

I got to the PAN meeting tired, excited, and ready to help people setup for the cooking demo.  The cooking demo came and went.  The young woman who runs Miss Rachel's Pantry was teaching us.  Miss Rachel was wonderful and completely lovable!  So knowledgeable and inspiring.  The food was mouthwatering and ready and mentees filed upstairs to eat what we had all made together.  Mentors and volunteers helped clean up.  I was more anxious.  Gary would be here at any moment.

Soon, I heard his voice at the door.  I don't remember what he said.  Probably something person-like, like "Hello! How are you?"  I just remember thinking, "It's him!  I've heard his voice a hundred times and now I'm hearing it live!"  Gary entered the church, popped his head in where we volunteers were wrapping up cleaning duty.  He said, "Hello!" and proceeded upstairs.

I brought my food up and then I got to listen to him speak.  "How lucky am I?" I thought.  Listening to him speak, I was delighted to discover how funny he was.  Despite talking about something so serious, he kept people laughing while never downplaying the seriousness of the issue.  This is such an admirable skill and accomplishment.  As I watched, I wished I had brought my camera to record this.  I feel positive, that is to say, absolutely sure that Gary will be in history books.  I couldn't be more sure of this.  At one point, vegan desserts were passed around the table.  My cookies were passed to him, but he politely turned them down saying, "No thank you.  But they look good!"  That was truly enough for me!  I know from listening to him that he isn't a big sweets person and had he actually tried one I don't think I could stand the wait for his verdict.  At the end of his talk, I had goosebumps.  He said something like, "This world would really be great if we just made up our minds to make it that way!"  I agree.

After the talk, I waited to talk to him.  When I got to talk to him, I introduced myself as my abolitionist forum name, DumbledoresAmy, because I figured he'd know me somewhat from that.  He did, and said, "Oh, that's you!" And talked about how funny it is when you are finally able to place a real face with an single thumbnail image and posts.

Then, I gave him my vegan "business" cards.  They have his website at the top, followed by my vegan blog, and then a quote by him.

He read it and said, "Oh look, that's my website!"  He read a bit further and said, "Oh, that's a quote by me!"  I felt a bit like a child showing her uncle something she had created at school.

We made our way out the door because the church would need the space very soon.  I start talking about a mutual friend we have, and he was interested in what she was up to since I talk to her more online than he has a chance to.

I walked home with my new vegan friends, gabbing incessantly.  This is something I find I do around other vegans.  I wish I could stop myself but I have so many thoughts that I withhold as an effort to not discomfort my non-vegan friends that once I get to talk to a vegan, my excitement is uncontainable and possibly, mildly annoying.

--

I got to the second Gary Francione event later than intended.  The address of the coffeehouse confused me.  Directions and locations are not my strongest suit.  Gary's talk was great.  I worried that everyone there was already vegan.  I'm not sure if they were or weren't.  My hopes were that new people would be added to our 1% population.

Go to here.

In the middle of the 2-hour talk I had to pee.  Damn that tea!  The bathroom was in the same space as the discussion room and I found the idea of Gary Francione hearing me pee to be too familiar for someone I looked up to so much.  But soon, I had to face facts, and I headed to the bathroom trying to embrace the idea as a way to comfort myself.  To my relief, the bathroom light was attached to one of those loud fans and my mind was put at ease.

Once the talk was finished, Gary answered questions and then signed his books.  I had two copies.  One for our mutual friend and the other for myself.  Gary told me between the talks, he was looking at the vegan card I had given him and he had gotten teary-eyed because he was so touched.  How sweet!  This is a precious life memory for me that I will always keep safe.  Thank you Gary for coming.  Thank you PAN for making it possible.  And thank you me, for being passionate, weird, and fun and making the unusual worth living, experiencing, and writing about.  I don't think many people are this excited about this many things and it's too bad.  It's a good time! 

I was worried that searching for images of "self love" on Google would lead me to a bunch of masturbation pictures, but this is quite lovely.   

     

Wood You Come to My Birthday?

Yesterday was my birthday.  I turned 24 and had a wonderful time in the process.

For one thing, I finally have a full-time job!  I now work at grocery 
store that is a 7-minute walk from my house.  Everyone I have worked with so far is very nice and I'm glad that I will at last be able to have some stability.  I even get paid every week instead of every other week.  When I first thought of working at South Square, I thought how the job would offend my vegan-self.  I still have these thoughts.  You should see me as I gingerly pick up the very tips of a cheese or meat package to scan it.  I also worry about how my paycheck is partially coming from animal exploitation.  It's not an ideal job for me in this respect but the way things have been for about a year now, I've barely been getting by.  I've been surviving more than living but this is more than I can say for the animals' whose body parts and products I slide across my scanner and announce the price of.  What would my thighs go for?  What about my life?

Sadly, the job that I was barely getting by with ended and I needed another job.  This was the first one that I could find that would pay my bills.  I will continue to look for better options for me but in looking at the situation as it is, I see an excellent opportunity to do some activism.  Here I am, being presented with pieces of people's lives.  I recently listened to a debate between Gary Francione and Erik Marcus and Gary mentioned he always starts the conversation by asking about people's pets.  At my job, I'm ringing up their cat and/or dog food.  What a perfect lead in!  I've ordered some free business cards for The Abolitionist Approach and as soon as I'm finished my training I'm going to start talking to people about veganism and giving them cards at the end of our conversations.  I'll probably get myself into some kind of trouble but as long as I'm not selling anything, I don't see what's so wrong about having a conversation made relevant by a person's pets.  So, I'll see.

For my birthday, I worked and then I went back to my apartment where my boyfriend was waiting for me.  He got me tasty vegan pizza and a delicious vegan dessert.  After eating, he gave me a present which was a ukulele!  How exciting!

Then, I dragged my roommates, friends, and boyfriend to Woody's, a wonderful, gay bar and I think that everyone had a good time.  I had a good time.  Sunday is 80's night meaning some drinks are 80 cents and there is lots of 80's music.  I love Woody's!  Everyone there is so full of joy and there's so much love in the room!  This sounds corny but I don't care.

Oh, and P.S. I got a popcorn maker as a birthday gift!  Hooray!  The lid turns into a bowl!

Sigh.

Feeling a bit like Sisyphus. 

The most notable thing I did this week was think.  Maybe I shouldn't think too much.  In this week's case, more than anything, I feel like a failure.

I've been a college graduate for nearly a year now and I don't feel any closer to my goals now than I was a year ago. 

Feeling a bit like Rob Gordon.  

More importantly to me, I've been vegan for almost one year (January 8th, 2010) and I haven't got even one person to go vegan.  Not one person!  Not my family, not my friends, and not any strangers.

I am hereby claiming responsibility for this year's failures.  I didn't get anyone to go vegan this year because I wasn't confident enough when I talked to people about it, if I was brave enough to talk to them at all.  I didn't want to offend anyone and I didn't want to seem like I was looking down on anyone.  As a result, I have not contributed at all to "the shift of the paradigm" as Gary Francione puts it.  I have also been lazy this year and this the biggest contributor to my unhappiness in the personal and professional sense as well as my lack in vegan conversions.  I need to seize every career opportunity.  I also need to grab every chance to talk to others about veganism because this kind of every day activism is the right thing to do.  Only by practicing every day does a person become an expert and if I could be an expert vegan activist, I would be happy.  Also, I need to make up my mind to be happy.  I need to do all of these things and I will.