Vegetarian...with slip-ups

            Even though being a vegetarian is truly not as difficult as it may sound to some people, there are still times where I have accidentally eaten a food with meat in it. It does not happen too often, but it probably happens more than you would think. To me, it has only happened about six times, some incidents were more serious and scary than the others.

For example, one time before homecoming my group of friends and I went out for supper before the dance at a really nice and fancy restaurant. Since I was not only a vegetarian, but also a picky vegetarian, my meal choices were limited and I ended up ordering the three-cheese lasagna. I tried to read what the ingredients were below the name, but the names were in Italian or something so I did not know what they actually were anyway. When I got it, it was a lot larger than I anticipated, so I could only eat half of it. Once I finished half of it I asked for a to-go box, and soon I realized that there was something in my mouth that felt a lot like something I used to know, something a lot like hamburger.

        When the waiter came back, I asked what was in it and he said “oh, there is cheese, hamburger, and-” My mouth dropped and it felt like the end of the world, like all of the years I was a vegetarian did not matter anymore and I would not be able to say that I was a vegetarian. I felt sick to my stomach (still not entirely sure if it was because I ate meat for the first time in years or because I was in shock and nervous).Those were the thoughts I immediately had after I found out, before I realized that it was completely an accident, and that does not mean I would not be able to say that I was a vegetarian. Then the waiter said that only half of the lasagna had hamburger in it, and the other half had only cheese in it. Guess which half I ate. Yep, that is right; the entire half of the lasagna with the hamburger in it. I am still a vegetarian, but now I am a vegetarian with a couple of slip-ups.