I Lost Friends When I Became a Vegan — Now I’m a Lot Happier
It wasn’t just my diet that changed when I became a vegan
The first sign that there was something wrong between me and George* was when we went grocery shopping.
Ever since becoming vegan a year and a half ago, supermarkets had taken on a whole new dimension: I could wipe out whole aisles entirely, while other pockets of the store that some might only glaze their eyes over had instantly become a lifeline.
But this spring afternoon when the Jacaranda trees were in bloom, purpling an overcast day, all I saw was the tray of prosciutto that George shoved in my face.
It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten any type of meat, and I was certainly never fond of prosciutto. But what made it all the more revolting was that someone I thought was my friend — a close and true friend — would do something so crass and offensive.
For a million reasons, I stayed silent when perhaps I should have screamed. I suppose my mind was spinning too much. From that afternoon, I started to realize: We had been intensely close, reimagining the world to how we wanted it to be, yet George never really knew me.
This was confirmed when, another night, he insisted we go to a Hungarian café for dessert. “It’s only…
