Everyone's a little bit racist...

[SoCalGirl]

Here's another "racist/prejudice or not scenario".

All day meetings are being planned at work. The admin in charge of ordering food responds to an email to call out if certain attendees need vegetarian meals. All the names are Indian.


Cut to a few weeks later, different all day meetings with different admins coordinating. (Also, this set is East coast as opposed to the first set is West coast.) We break for lunch. It's all meat filled sandwiches. Zero veggie options. About 10% of the attendees are vegetarian and most of them are Indian. The next two days have vegetarian options after it was brought to the organizer's attention.

It should be noted I work for a company in the healthcare industry. Healthy meals are actually required by the company, but "healthy" and vegetarian aren't always hand in hand.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by SoCalGirl

Here's another "racist/prejudice or not scenario".

All day meetings are being planned at work. The admin in charge of ordering food responds to an email to call out if certain attendees need vegetarian meals. All the names are Indian.


Cut to a few weeks later, different all day meetings with different admins coordinating. (Also, this set is East coast as opposed to the first set is West coast.) We break for lunch. It's all meat filled sandwiches. Zero veggie options. About 10% of the attendees are vegetarian and most of them are Indian. The next two days have vegetarian options after it was brought to the organizer's attention.

It should be noted I work for a company in the healthcare industry. Healthy meals are actually required by the company, but "healthy" and vegetarian aren't always hand in hand.

Personally, I think our society is out of control with expecting "free" lunches/snacks/etc to meet each person's individual dietary needs. If you can't have meat/dairy/gluten/fiber or whatever and you aren't aware in advance of the menu, it is up to you to inquire in advance or bring food you can eat. It is next to impossible to find anything to serve a group of people that will work for everybody present. As a person with extreme dietary restrictions, I bring my own backup food if I'm not sure what is being served. I would never consider making a big deal of the fact that the entree is a luncheon salad and I can't eat vegetables.

My mom was a vegetarian before it was cool and she always had a sandwich in her purse "just in case". The world does not have to cater to everybody.

That said- I think the first situation sounds like prejudice if you're saying the admin only asked those with Indian names whether they needed vegetarian food. Statistically, the Indians were more likely to be vegetarians, but I definitely know plenty of Caucasians who are vegetarian.

The second situation simply sounds like they feel like I do! If you have a special need, bring it to someone's attention. Don't assume people can read your mind.

[SoCalGirl]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Personally, I think our society is out of control with expecting "free" lunches/snacks/etc to meet each person's individual dietary needs. If you can't have meat/dairy/gluten/fiber or whatever and you aren't aware in advance of the menu, it is up to you to inquire in advance or bring food you can eat. It is next to impossible to find anything to serve a group of people that will work for everybody present. As a person with extreme dietary restrictions, I bring my own backup food if I'm not sure what is being served. I would never consider making a big deal of the fact that the entree is a luncheon salad and I can't eat vegetables.

My mom was a vegetarian before it was cool and she always had a sandwich in her purse "just in case". The world does not have to cater to everybody.

That said- I think the first situation sounds like prejudice if you're saying the admin only asked those with Indian names whether they needed vegetarian food. Statistically, the Indians were more likely to be vegetarians, but I definitely know plenty of Caucasians who are vegetarian.

The second situation simply sounds like they feel like I do! If you have a special need, bring it to someone's attention. Don't assume people can read your mind.

My coworkers and I thought in the first scenario the admin was at best just trying to be courteous and at worst prejudice. Would have been best if she'd ask everyone if there were any dietary restrictions.

In the second scenario, nobody made a huge deal of it. The coordinators were informed so arrangements could be made for the rest of the meetings. I just pulled the meat off while others ran out to the onsite cafeteria. We don't have a cafeteria in my office so that option hadn't occurred to me. I'm so used to big meetings (30+) always having vegetarian options that I was floored by the lack of options really. I learned quickly to save fruit and other options from breakfast because the lunch offerings were ultimately fairly gross.


eta: I recall, at a previous job, one of my supervisors loved to reward the team with lunches. He would order ribs, peperoni pizza, cheesesteak sandwiches, etc. Always so much meat. Never mind that half the team were known vegetarians. I was constantly reminding him to pick out alternative options.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by AGDee

Personally, I think our society is out of control with expecting "free" lunches/snacks/etc to meet each person's individual dietary needs. If you can't have meat/dairy/gluten/fiber or whatever and you aren't aware in advance of the menu, it is up to you to inquire in advance or bring food you can eat. It is next to impossible to find anything to serve a group of people that will work for everybody present. As a person with extreme dietary restrictions, I bring my own backup food if I'm not sure what is being served. I would never consider making a big deal of the fact that the entree is a luncheon salad and I can't eat vegetables.

I've met so many people who are annoying (and demanding) about their dietary restrictions that I've lost count.

Last Memorial Day weekend, my boyfriend and I were visiting one of his friends in Dallas. Another one of his friends and his girlfriend (we'll call them Matt and Sarah) were planning to stop by for a cookout. And what do people generally do at Memorial Day cookouts? They eat meat and drink alcohol. What doesn't Sarah do? Eat meat and drink alcohol. Ok, no big deal.

My boyfriend was on the phone with Matt prior to them coming over, and he said, "By the way, we know Sarah doesn't eat meet, and we have a couple veggie burgers in the fridge here, so if she wants those, she can have them." Matt and Sarah arrive… with nothing but a 6-pack of beer in hand. Sarah immediately starts complaining because the only thing that we have to drink is beer and whatever can be found in the fridge (maybe some orange juice?). She finally pours herself a glass of water. Then she asks if she can see the veggie burgers she'll be eating. As she's reading the back of the box, she starts rambling on and on about how she can only eat specific types of veggie burgers that don't contain a certain ingredient.

Seriously??? Why didn't you just bring what you wanted to eat?! It's not like you thought you were showing up to a salad and soda party, and you were surprised when there were only burgers and booze! You knew where you were going and what to expect. The hosts of the party were nice enough to offer you their veggie burgers, which they were probably planning to eat for dinner one night that week, and then you complain and say that you can't eat just ANY type of veggie burger? Ugh.