Part of Slice of Life by Two Writing Teachers March Slice a Day Challenge!
I’m slicing every day this month. Thanks for stopping by. 🙂
I recently received some pictures from NAPDS. Well, I got a link to where I might purchase and download some pictures. The pictures made me laugh for many reasons, and then I noticed that my nametag was flipped over in one of the pictures so all that you see is my meal ticket that says “vegan.” I’d show you the picture, but it doesn’t belong to me. You’ll just have to imagine.
It makes it seem as if I have been labeled.
Watch out! The Vegan has entered the room!
Hi, I’m vegan. Nice to meet you.
It was lovely to receive these little meal tickets when I registered at the conference. The directions were to hand the ticket to a server at each meal. #inclusivity
I got a chance to try it out at our first lunch. It was a buffet, so it was a little tricky to find someone to help me. I glanced at the buffet tables in case there might just be some vegan food labeled already. Salad with cheese, creamy dressing, pasta (Is there butter on it? I don’t think so), and a bunch of kinds of unlabeled sauces (Alfredo? Meat? Maybe marinara? Vegetables in something…chicken broth?), and some plates of buttery cookies.
Finally, I found a server and asked if he could help me with my ticket. He looked at me with a crinkled brow and said, “That’s for tomorrow.”
“Oh,” I said, thinking about the stack of tickets I had received for all the meals at the conference. “I got like 4 of them!”
“Well, how many vegan meals do you NEED?” He asked in shock, adding “I’ll see what I can do,” as he walked away.
I never saw that guy again. I did eat some pasta and marinara that seemed safe. But in case you are wondering, I actually eat a vegan meal every time!
On a Thought 
I was glad to read it all worked out and you didn’t go hungry. When you said you never saw him again – I got worried and had keep reading your piece.
Ugh, those unlabeled buffet dinners can be the worst. I could feel your frustration when you were talking to that server. I hope the rest of your meals were more enjoyable than that one!
I feel your pain. I eat gluten-free due to migraine headaches. Events with buffets are the worst. Wedding receptions, restaurants, church potlucks, conferences. I look the picky eater when I take my own food and everyone else gets what’s offered. At one of my conferences, my meal ticket was actually marked with a huge yellow X (rather like a scarlet letter) and the hostess announced to the table that I needed to be in the “special line” because I was a “special eater.” lol Really?