1. You get asked a thousand times why you don’t eat meat.
2. Everything needs to be inspected for meat. Everything.
You won’t get me this time, bacon bits!
3. Several people, maybe even everyone at the table, is going to hold up the turkey at some point, rub their bellies and tell you you’re missing out.
4. Your cousins start taking bets on how much longer you’ll last.
But you get to watch them all lose money as you pass each of their estimates.
5. At least once, you’re going to mumble under your breath about the irony of killing animals for the sake of human togetherness.
6. Somebody who never got the memo about your lifestyle is either going to be really defensive or really apologetic about the dish they brought.
7. The sides are heavenly enough that you don’t even care about skipping the turkey.
Fluffy, delicious stuffing beats dead bird any day.
8. You bring a vegetarian dish to show everybody how awesome they can be.
And you’re always proud when you’re right about how much they’d love it.
9. You’re thankful for the pie over anything else.
10. There’s always at least a little bit of guilt you feel when you can’t eat your uncle’s prized dish.
11. You’ll never forget how scary your first meatless Thanksgiving was.
But then you realize how much better it is as a vegetarian.
12. The whole presidential turkey pardoning tradition always confused you.
But then again, it confused everyone. Why this turkey? Does it get to live in the White House now?
13. When there’s another vegetarian at the table, you’re automatic BFFs.
14. Your grandparents are going to worry about whether it’s healthy for you to do this.
Stuff your face with everything else to calm them down. Everyone wins!