I love Pastrami the most.

Yeah, you probably didn’t know that about me, right?
Also, I love bacon. I love it crispy and a little bit burned, but I’d eat it undercooked in a New York minute.
I love hot dogs with everything on them; especially sauerkraut and mustard and red onion. On a big fat bun.
Fried chicken, I could eat for breakfast, especially the skin. Man, I love the skin.
I couldn’t cook a good steak to save my soul, but I love it when it’s just this side of rare. With fried onions.
Fish tacos? They sounded so gross before I tried one, but after…yeah, I was a fan.
I grew up with Polish grandparents, and my Nana made homemade Polish sausage every Sunday. I hated it when I was a kid; when I got older I realized what I was missing.
Nothing beat a good cheeseburger, and I could eat them for days.

I love the taste of all these things but I haven’t tasted any of them for over 20 years.

A lot of people think that vegetarians/vegans don’t eat meat because we don’t like the taste. They’re always saying, “what’s wrong with you? You don’t like a burger or a steak?” Well, duh. Of course I do. In fact, when I walk into my yard in the summer and I smell some BBQ going on down the block I take a sniff and I remember how much I loved it.

But I wouldn’t eat it for a million bucks.

All vegetarians and vegans have their own reasons for choosing to not eat meat, and I’m sure that some of them truly do not like the taste of cooked meat. I happen to love it. But I don’t eat meat because I just can’t bring myself to eat another sentient being.

That doesn’t make me better than you and I’m not judging you. I just have a set of values that do not allow for eating meat. It’s that simple. I don’t believe that I’m entitled to make another animal suffer just for my twelve-dollar lunch.  I can imagine eating meat no more than I can imagine killing and grilling and eating my dog.

Be kind to the animals; be kind to yourself; be kind to others. That’s all I’m suggesting.