The popularity of vegan diets has risen in the past few decades.
Unlike a vegetarian, vegans eschew all animal byproducts, including honey, milk, and eggs. Vegetarians don’t eat meat, but they can choose to be lacto—dairy products—or ovo—eggs—vegetarians.
Pescatarians—people who don’t eat meat or poultry, but do eat fish—and pollotarians—people who eat poultry, but not other meats—are sometimes considered an offshoot of vegetarians.
While some people choose a vegetarian or vegan diet to pursue health goals, for some people it’s a moral issue. So it can be a touchy subject.
A woman who learned just how touchy some vegans can be turned to the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit for feedback after her generosity backfired.
Meenulara asked:
“AITA for offering eggs to a (vegan) stranger?”
The original poster (OP) explained:
“So, I (25, temale) own a few chickens. They’re more pets than livestock and I love them.”
“The hens are named Katniss and Prim, Punk, Lucy, Abra, Rose, Berta, the TWINS, Margaret, and Mirabel. The Roosters are called Rex (he’s an a**hole) and ‘the old guy’ (he’s nice).”
“They produce a lot more eggs than I can eat, so usually, I’ll gift them to friends and family and normally people are pretty happy about that.”
“I’m not in the US. I’ve read about eggs being super expensive there right now, where I live they’re not that ‘valuable’.”
“Last week, I spotted some interesting books on eBay. I don’t know how it works in the US, but we have ‘eBay’ and ‘eBay Marketplace’. One is an auction, and the other one you just message the seller directly and make an offer.”
“I texted the seller, she was nice, we agreed on a price and scheduled a date when I could pick them up, so far so good.”
“That same day, I realised I had some leftover eggs and wouldn’t see anyone I usually give them to for a couple more days, so I thought, ‘hey, I got a great price for those books, she was nice, I’ll just bring some as a small present’.”
“Boy, was I wrong. When I got there, everything went smoothly at first, she (middle aged woman) helped me load the books in my trunk, I gave her the money and then I reached over at my passenger seat and grabbed the eggs.
“I only got to ‘I’ve brought you a little something….’ before she went absolutely nuclear on me. She screamed about her whole family being vegan, how dare I bring those atrocities onto her property, if her kids saw them they would be a huge temptation for them and so on.”
“She even accused me of using animals for my own satisfaction and wealth, which is obviously not true and got me pretty upset.”
GIPHY
“I immediately backed up, took the eggs and got the hell out of there. She was still shouting at me when I backed out out the driveway.”
“I kinda chuckled to myself about how crazy that was until I told a friend about it a couple days later.”
“She said she kinda understood the woman’s perspective, that eggs count as ‘triggering food’ and I should be more careful offering them to people who might have a specific diet.”
“I honestly didn’t think anything of it at time, I’m a vegetarian myself and if someone offers me a sausage at a party, I simply politely decline. It’s not like I tried to force those eggs on her, I just thought it might be a nice thank you to someone.”
“By that logic, you can’t gift anything to anyone you don’t know that well because it might be triggering. But I’m trying to be a good person, aware of other peoples opinions and issues.”
“So Reddit, please tell me, am I the a**hole?”
The OP summed up their situation.
“I might be the a**hole for not being cautious enough about other people’s diets and attitudes and I should try to be a good person.”
Redditors weighed in by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors decided the OP was not the a**hole (NTA), but people couldn’t help but peck—I mean poke—fun at the OP’s accoster.
“NTA. That was fowl behaviour on her part. 🐔“ ~ everythingsoon
GIPHY
“Maybe let’s keep the puns cooped up for now, this situation calls for walking on eggshells! NTA.” ~ PhantomIridescence
“That’s clucked up.” ~ sineofthetimes
“I’m just here to read the comments and watch the feathers fly.” ~ rastagrrl
“Awww, someone ruffled her feathers?” ~ DynkoFromTheNorth
“Don’t henpeck them!” ~ Amonette2012
“Is this some kinda yolk?” ~ MoreCowbellPlease
“All white you got me! Egg all over my face.” ~ Amonette2012
“OP will be eggstra careful before offering her gift to people.” ~ Sweet-Fancy-Moses23
“This is pretty clucking funny!” ~ Alternative_Win_6805
“These puns aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. It was a pretty rotten joke.” ~ Inaccurate_Artist
GIPHY
“No way, that chick is cracked! NTA.” ~ TomokataTomokato
“Yeah, all the egg was on her face, not OPs. That lady is a little cracked in the shell to get her feathers all ruffled over some free eggs.”
“Triggered? What is she, the cock of the walk? I have IBS. I can’t eat—checks notes—food. That’s my problem. Not anyone elses.”
“Someone offers me food, I just say, ‘no thanks’. Vegans can do that too. It’s easy!” ~ lpmiller
“Yeah, that lady’s brains are scrambled. NTA.” ~ Decent-Bear334
“Now we know why the chicken crossed the road…” ~ Quesi00
“She really beaked off at her…” ~ FeRaL–KaTT
“Ya, if I didn’t eat eggs and a stranger brought me some, omelette it slide.” ~ NetLumpy1818
“Poultry in motion!” ~ SharkeyGeorge
“Maybe she was egging her on.” ~ C64128
“She totally ovo-reacted.” ~ Badm
But beyond the puns.
“I’m vegan and if you offered me eggs I would say, ‘No Thank You’, like a normal person! She was way out of line and super rude. NTA.” ~ Gardengro
“As a fellow vegan, I can confirm that this is the way vegans usually react. A simple ‘no thank you’. Or a ‘I appreciate the offer, but I don’t eat eggs’.”
“I hate it when rude people ruin it for everybody.” ~ HedgehogElection
“I feel sorry for her kids. Sounds like they don’t want to be vegan, but have no choice.” ~ CanNaberBeFound
“NTA. ‘…eggs count as “triggering food…’ Sure, OK.”
“…’She screamed about her whole family being vegan, how dare I bring those atrocities onto her property, if her kids saw them they would be a huge temptation for them and so on’.”
“I’m picturing this woman screaming at an actual chicken in the middle of laying eggs.” ~ StAlvis
“If just seeing eggs are a temptation for her kids, then she is not doing a good job of teaching her kids her values.” ~ ethnicman1971
“But…why? I’m friends with vegetarians and vegans and I’ve seen extreme reactions too. What I don’t get is WHY? Our chickens are PETS.”
“They happen to lay eggs that we eat or share. (WE aren’t vegetarian or vegan.) It’s so bizarre to have someone ‘go off’ and start proselytizing veganism, like we’re evil for being omnivores. Just like our girls are.” ~ Candid_Jellyfish_240
GIPHY
“NTA. The woman was entirely out of line. As far as this: ‘…eggs count as “triggering food” and I should be more careful offering them to people who might have a specific diet’.”
“No. Absolutely not. If someone is so mentally weak that the mere sight of an egg sends them into a rage they need to be institutionalized.” ~ Wonderful_Two_6710
“Makes you wonder how into the vegan lifestyle her children were if just the mere presence of eggs in their vicinity would cause them to turn into ravenous wolves.” ~ Russianbot25
“NTA. This is not your issue at all. You were trying to be friendly, and the person you offered them to, it sounds like you had no clue they were vegan. Instead of being polite, they went to complete asshole mode.”
“That’s not fair to you, and your kindness. It sounds like their family is forced vegan by this militant vegan.” ~ ThreeDogs2963
“NTA. ‘…eggs count as “triggering food” and I should be more careful offering them…’.”
“I wish all 7 biblical plagues in a row to whomever has the courage to think this, let alone say it.”
“If everyone would do anything other than politely decline and ask me to avoid it in the future (if we were to meet again) I would make sure to order 240 eggs from 20 different online stores and put that address for delivery (across 3 weeks for good measure).”
“Since when is it acceptable to meet a good gesture in good faith with aggression?” ~ AnonAnontheAnony
“NTA. Extremism isn’t fun. Nor is imposing your beliefs on others. I say this as a very crunchy animal lover, and I respect dietary choices.”
“Backyard chickens live possibly the best quality Chicken Life. Find a single parent to give those eggs to. You’re a good person.” ~ Moist_Requirements_
The OP can rest assured that her gesture was seen as an attempt at kindness, not the attack the recipient portrayed it as.
As one commenter suggested, if the woman wants to keep all animal byproducts away from her property and family, maybe she should warn people.
A big sign for the yard? Matching t-shirts when they go anywhere?
Although it begs the question, how does she go out in public?