Last time I ate with this group of people, someone looked at my scant plate (everything was carbs.... I tried some meatballs, but they were sugared, so I was sticking to the veggie platter), and said, "If you're vegan, the corn-fritters..."

"I'm not vegan. At all. I happily eat meat."

"No, but I'm saying, the corn fritters are...."

"The thing I CAN'T eat is grains."

"Oh."

All off this was in an effort to be helpful. *sigh*

Now, there IS another woman who's part of that group (but fortunately doesn't show often) who's vegan and belligerent about it. She works in medical office, and so will insist she knows more than you do (even when she's dead wrong) on any topic relating to the human body. (She is NOT a trained medical professional. From what I can tell, she does paperwork. But she seems to believe that close daily proximity to doctors means she's absorbed all the world's knowledge in ways you couldn't possibly understand, trust me, if we knew what she does, we'd understand. *sigh*

And she gets super-belligerent over meat. My best friend is vegan, and we're able to share recipes. (I have stuff in common with vegans.... Like I tend to want to know EVERY SINGLE INGREDIENT. So that great recipe for green-beans cooked up in oil and lemon juice with some almond shavings and a hint of minced garlic? Yeah, I'm all over that! You want my recipe for nutrient-dense chocolate cupcakes? You'll have to replace the egg, but that's ok....) Luckily, she also tends to not show up to a lot of things, and she wasn't there this weekend. (I actually dread the first time she does. She has no respect for people who make different decisions than she does....)

With the exception of Moaning Myrtle, everyone in this group respects that the others are grown-ups, and can make their own decisions. My problem is with how helpful they are. And the fact that so often,I don't have time to make anything.

But hey, I survived it. Unscathed and uncarbed.

And holy moley, but I'm still having flashback-fantasies about that shrimp salad!