Awoman cut ties with a friend who is vegan and doesn’t drink: I had grown tired of “catering to her needs”

Awoman has been applauded for being honest about why she cut ties with a friend who is vegan and doesn’t drink.

There’s nothing unusual about being teetotal or not eating animal products. According to a 2023 Gallup poll, about 1 percent of the U.S. population considers themselves to be vegan, while another Gallup survey puts the proportion of Americans choosing not to drink alcohol at 38 percent.

The reality is that many choose to abstain from either or both meat and alcohol. That is not an issue for the 50-year-old woman posting to Reddit under the handle /u/Sugarlessmama.

Writing on the popular social media platform, the woman stressed that she thought it was “awesome” that her 46-year-old friend Lauren chose to abstain from meat and alcohol and that she had “no issue” with her life choices.

The reason, according to the post, that the woman has found herself at odds with a close friend has more to do with how Lauren’s choices have begun to affect the social life of their friendship group.

“She is part of a small group of friends who don’t get out very often but when we do it always has to be limited due to Lauren’s choices,” the woman wrote. “We live in an area where our food choices suck to begin with so having to go to eat where she can be satisfied is very limited.”

Woman appearing unhappy during a dinner.
A photo of two women. A woman has taken a tough stance over her vegan, teetotal friend’s behavior during social activities. GPOINTSTUDIO/GETTY
While it’s one thing to make those choices for yourself, the Redditor said, Lauren has attempted to influence the choices of others in the group.

“She gets upset when any one of us eat[s] something that has an obvious meat to it,” she wrote, adding, “if we ordered a hamburger she would cause drama. Then she doesn’t drink, which is no big deal, but she will then send us videos on the harmful effects of alcohol if we get a drink or two with dinner.”

The woman said Lauren’s behavior had gotten on her nerves, “to say the least,” and she had grown tired of “catering to her needs” when it came to choosing where to dine out. As a result, she chose not to go out to eat with Lauren anymore, a decision that prompted her former friend to reach out and ask why.

The woman said she told Lauren: “I respect your choices but by the very nature of them they have limited mine. Being that I don’t have the ability to go out often nor unlimited funds I am only going to go when I know the entire experience will be what I want.”

According to the post, Lauren “didn’t like that too much,” saying that “isn’t what friendship is about” and that the poster should “enjoy the company enough not to care.”

The woman told Lauren she would “gladly hang out with her when food or drink isn’t in question” and suggested that Lauren could sometimes eat before they met up. Lauren told her she would not sit around “watching people eat meat.”

Though the argument left Lauren “upset,” Diane Gottsman, an etiquette expert and founder of the Protocol School of Texas, said the Redditor was right to feel aggrieved.

“There are many people who have dietary preferences, allergies and religious restrictions, and while it’s nice to take them into consideration when possible, asking an entire group of people to change their dining experience and chastising them for the food and drink they select is out of line,” Gottsman told Newsweek.

“While there are some situations where the person would not be able to find anything on the menu, it’s not appropriate to make everyone else feel uncomfortable or shamed because they don’t agree with their choice of food or cocktail selection,” she continued.

“Respecting people’s choices in food, religion and politics is always a bit dicey when you have someone who has strong opinions that do not align with your own,” Gottsman said. “However, her actions are making it hard for everyone else to enjoy their evening, where they are spending money and taking time out of their day to relax and unwind.”

Related Posts

Our Privacy policy

https://newsgrow24.com - © 2025 News