Let’s face it, hospitality is dead. It seems like you can’t go anywhere these days without somebody complaining about how whatever it is that you were eating or you’re serving in your holiday meal conflicts with their social or moral stance on something.
Back in the day, when somebody went to another person’s house and they didn’t like something on the table, they would just suck it up and eat it or politely say “I’m not that hungry” and be done with it. Instead today we have a plethora of people with all kinds of objections from vegetarian and vegan to dairy haters and raw foodists who say that they refused to eat anything that’s off of the diet. Ironically, most of these people also claim to be fans of the moderation theory, but where’s the moderation in shunning an entire food group because of some personal beef against it?
Interestingly enough, moderation is the defense only when it comes to candy. Recently, actress Natalie Portman while she was pregnant decided that being vegan wasn’t right for her, but that she needed to eat pastries with eggs and dairy in order to sustain on the health of her baby. How ludicrous is that?! Granted, the protein sources would be beneficial to the baby, but the sugar certainly would not be.
Anyway, back to the holidays. So what happens is now when we have the holidays, such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, we can’t just have our food the way we like it served on the table. We can’t keep the traditions of our families and our ancestors on the table. No, we have to go out of our way to create tasteless soy-based vegan approved main courses and desserts like Tofurkey and chocolate pudding made from avocados. This is unfortunate.
Equally as backwards is that if someone shows up to such a function with food allergies, a serious health condition no matter which variation that person has (sensitivities, allergies or intolerances) his or her family and friends, the people who supposedly care about them, try to prod that person into eating something that could irreparably harm his or her body. The only exception to this usually is with true allergies that could result in death. Allergies of all types must be heeded at least until the body is repaired, but so few people take them seriously enough to actually be choosy with what they eat. Meanwhile, those who make conscious decisions to be a pain in the ass, get all the respect and attention.
With the age of political correctness, people are losing their cultures. We no longer enjoy one another’s company because we’re all on some righteous mission to save something other than ourselves. It’s sad but it’s true.
Don’t get me wrong. I definitely have the way I like to eat, a way that has been proven since the dawn of time to maintain and/or improve human health. That doesn’t mean, however, that I can’t put it aside for one meal to enjoy the company of friends and family.
So this year during the holidays, try to think of the greater good instead of what makes your ego feel special. If you know deep down that you are special, then there is no need to demonstrate it through being difficult and demanding during the holidays.
