To have asked him to choose a different sandwich

[Medsy]

Don't know if it's because it's Easter or what but my local co-ops sandwich section was totally barren, only meat sandwiches left (I'm vegetarian). I saw a man go for the last cheese one there was, so I asked him if he was vegetarian and if not, would he mind if I had it? A woman (wife?) appeared and went batshit at me and called me rude.
It made me quite pissed off actually. I wouldn't have a problem with say a gluten free person asking me if they could have the last gluten free sandwich.
WIBU?

No one shouted. 😂

I think we all know going “batshit” on mumsnet translates in real life as a fairly normal interaction- In this case the woman who was buying the sandwich with her partner said four words: “excuse me that’s rude”

See also being “screamed at” in a supermarket (someone asked you to move your trolley or something in a normal voice)

Or the MN going “nuclear” which translates as disagreeing with someone over some non event.

Whilst the other woman went overboard if she got as outraged as you say, you were rude. And you seem a seriously entitled and self-centred person. I do not eat meat either but would not think of doing this.

I’m really confused as to how some people would react!

I don’t see any issues with what you did

Fascinating response on this thread, to an innocuous question. I don't think it's rude to ask on the off chance. I'm not a social butterfly but I'd either go aye it was a toss up between two sandwiches or no sorry this is the only one I fancied. No harm done.

I wish I had more random interactions like this tbh. People are so straight laced and boring, only caring about sticking to unwritten rules in fear of judgement.

Did anyone follow this thread right from the start and just know it would end up like this, with the hundreds of responses? I took one look at it and just knew!

Or perhaps many people do not think the world revolves around them.

Misogyny.

Inferring that the man needed luck as he is involved with a woman that the OP didn’t like standing up to her.

OP, I’m sure the Co-Op had more than one vegetarian food item. Wanting the sandwich that another person has does not entitle you to it.

Presumably if you're a vegetarian out of "philosophy" you don't want animals to be killed and eaten. So why are you trying to influence this stranger towards choosing a chicken coronation?

@Everythinggreen

Mate, I've been vegetarian for 35 years and I can assure you, in the last few years since veganism is trendy it has replaced a large amount of vegetarian food on menus.

@ManchesterGirl2 exactly. It's the act of buying the meat sandwich that leads to more being produced.

Medsy · Today 13:36
I asked really politely if there was any chance he would change his mind and he seemed to be hesitating when the woman came from behind me and said "excuse me? That is so rude!". I just ignored her and said thanks anyway and good luck to the guy.

Obviously should have read more. So she did not really go batshit did she.

There's no harm in asking but it does depend how it's said. Assuming you asked politely and without pressuring the man, his wife massively overreacted!!!

so Many vegetarians/ vegans - eat less meat / animal products .
A shopper does this suddenly not an issue .

tbh it was the question asking if he was veggie that was invasive .

Cheeky chancer! I haven’t heard that term in a while. But honestly - I have kids with allergies, so it’s a medical necessity as to what they can and can’t eat and I wouldn’t dream of doing this! Does medical need trump philosophical choice I wonder?!

@WhamBamThankU I think that depends on where you live. Certainly far from true where I am, there are loads of vegetarian options and if I'm lucky one vegan option. Then for me it's either the one vegan option or nothing. English heritage places are terrible for this. Jacket potato with baked beans, no vegan spread, side salad or anything just literally those 2 things or nothing.

I'm not vegetarian either and I very rarely eat meat sandwiches.

Yep- it’s got all the ingredients:
-in a supermarket ✔️
-“bat shit” female shopper - The Antagonist ✔️
-faux innocent op with her good ethical choices- The Victim ✔️
-pious vegetarianism ✔️
-trivial subject matter ✔️

There’s some comedy value but about as much truth as an episode of Hollyoaks

It's upsetting me how close to my username yours is, and some people could confuse us, because what you've said has actually offended me.
You CANNOT compare your dietary preference to an allergy. You are choosing to not eat meat, people with allergies life may be at risk if they eat the wrong thing. So saying you would sacrifice the last gluten free sandwich for someone is absolutely NOT the same thing. There must have been multiple other things you could have eaten from a coop! P.s processed sandwiches are almost always cross contaminated from an allergy POV, so your cheese sandwich had probably rubbed shoulders with a dead animal at some point anyway!

So as someone who is a vegetarian for philosophical reasons, why did you actively encourage a stranger to choose a meat sandwich?
That's a bit strange.
Surely, the most philosophical thing to have done was to silently cheer him for choosing cheese (are we just ignoring the fact that everyone knows the dairy industry is far more cruel than the meat btw?) and picked another vegetarian product.

@SmileyClare that's cracked me up, thank you! The 'ingredients' 😁

Your “philosophy” is just a pretentious preference.

That's how it used to be for vegetarians. But now instead of the more varied vegetarian options we'd finally got there's now more vegan in most places I've been to. Veganism is newer to the 'trend' scene than vegetarianism and yet we're suffering for it.

😳

No way is anyone that cheeky! If you are fair play, but the concept of asking someone to give me their sandwich because it’s what I’d prefer is cringeworthy.

I would not have
minded at all if you asked me. I would have accommodated if I could or politely declined if I could not.