Last week I went to one of my favorite restaurants with Darrin for his birthday. The place isn't fully vegan but most things on the menu are and I was checking it out to see what I wanted. I usually get the same thing every time I go but this time I wanted to try something new. We walked in early Saturday afternoon and sat down. We ordered drinks and shortly after we ordered our food. Without paying much attention I ordered the first thing that sounded good to me which was french toast, assuming it would be vegan like almost everything else. I got the meal and it looked so amazing. I was so excited. I took a few bites around the edges of the bread and it was so delicious, bursting with delicious breakfast flavors.
I began to dig into the center of the bread and took a bite. Honestly, it tasted great but I just knew that something wasn't right. I began digging around a bit and noticed that there was cheese stuffed between the bread. I didn't panic yet because I have had some pretty tasty vegan cheeses but I wasn't entirely sure what it was and didn't want to eat anymore before confirming it. I also didn't want to ask the waitress and seem like a crazy person so I started pushing the cheesy pieces to the side of my plate and ate everything around it.
At this point I didn't even say anything to Darrin because I knew that if I voiced my concerns then it would become a big deal and I didn't want that happening. I grabbed my phone and brought up the menu online. Sure enough the french toast was stuffed with cheese. Ugh.
Darrin caught on to my panic and kept asking me what was wrong. I wouldn't tell him at first because I didn't want to make myself freak out about what just happened. Haha. After I gained my composure I told him and then I wouldn't stop talking about it. I have never accidentally ate anything like that before. One time after just converting to veganism I had some bread that had eggs in it but that's the only "mess up" I've had to my knowledge.
At first I panicked and felt really bad, but honestly it was a simple accident. Also, a learning experience. I didn't know what happened and didn't intentionally do it. I know that mistakes happen and this probably won't be the last accident that happens to me but each day I wake up and live the most compassionate life that I am able to.
That's what veganism is about; conscious effort and compassion. If you wake up each day and try to live a life that does the least possible harm to others then you're doing great. Sometimes being vegan in a not very vegan friendly place is tough and sometimes you'll accidentally buy something with wool in it or eat something that had cheese in it and that's okay. The good that you're doing does so much more to outweigh the one little mishap the occurs on occasion.
After the experience I tried to be positive about it and take away something from it. I now know that I will be more careful when ordering new things by looking at the menu item completely. But I also know that if it happens again, it's okay. I just have to keep moving forward and do the best that I can to live compassionately!