In regards to eating meat

[yossarian]

So... who is concerned about their opinion now?

That response is 100 points to them. They'll be speaking about it for months and laughing about you. You'd be hearing random guys asking you about your vegetarianism claiming to be "Genuinely curious" until the end of days. I agree it isn't very nice of them, but people like that are all over the place.

And why should I care? I have no need for friends like this. My friends don't act this way because they aren't shitty people.

It's really not so much about the "words" anyway but about the emotion in the delivery. You must be imagining me with watery eyes crying into my salad.

In any case, at least it's now perfectly clear what you're advocating: deception and social manipulation to avoid victimization by a dominant group that gets kicks out of bullying people.

Get better friends. Good people don't go around pushing people's buttons. The guy I mentioned who would constantly ask me was a coworker and he literally once told me, "You're strange, you just never take any of my s***." This was a guy who was notorious for going around teasing people and trying to rile them up. I would just call him out on it or turn my back to him. I didn't take any of his s*** but his regular attempts to rile me up were still tedious and that's why I have compassion for vegetarians. This guy was basically someone who didn't know how to interact with others except in a negative, adversarial way.

There is a big difference between playing their game and transcending their game. Transcending their game requires seeing "button pushers" for what they are: pathetic bullies abusing people for entertainment. They are little people, sad people, and they slink away when confronted properly.

I would describe your approach as trying hard to look cool in front of these people. My approach is recognizing that I don't need their approval. I'm not afraid of being embarrassed in front of my friends because.. duh! My friends like me and accept me for who I am. Anyone who would (a) bait a person for entertainment and (b) laugh at someone for caring about something is pathetic and I have no respect for them or their values. I reject everything they represent and I reject any authority they would wish to assume. By basing their own value on their ability to abuse and bait others, they inherently betray their own barren inner life, their own lack of standards, their own bankrupt spirituality, their own emotional childishness. Why should I care what someone like this thinks of me? I absolutely don't. f*** them. Let them laugh. My goal in life is not to be a cool kid. I grew out of teenager games a long time ago.