AITA: Woman fumes after family tricks her by hiding meat in food despite her choice to be vegetarian

A woman has shared her story on Reddit after getting confused with incidents that happened with her when she was in high school.

Taking to Reddit’s 'Am I The A*****e' (AITA) subreddit, the person, under the username Lady_Squids, began, “In high school, I was a vegetarian for a couple of years.”

“I was really into it, not like vegan teacher crazy but more like I just enjoyed being in a community, I'm no longer a vegetarian as an adult though,” she shared.

Woman says mixing meat in her food was ‘an inside joke game for years’

The woman posted that she recently got to know after overhearing her mother and grandmother talking and laughing about “a game where they would see how often they could sneak me meat.”

The Redditor revealed that she felt upset after knowing her family was “cooking veggies in bacon grease and stuff like that. At birthday parties, family gatherings, thanksgiving, and just dinner at home. It was like an inside joke game for years.”

Though the woman confronted her family members about it, they defended themselves, saying they did it for her since she “needed more protein.”

“But they kept smiling and giggling to one another about it so it felt like more of a joke. I dunno, maybe it wasn't and they really did do it because they cared, but it still feels mean,” she mentioned.

Concluding her post, the woman said she has been called out for being a “drama queen” by her family but she really wants to know if she is “the ass hole for being upset by this or should I just laugh with my family?”

Redditors support the woman while calling her family ‘disrespectful’ towards her

Many people commented on the Redditor’s post with one fellow user writing, “NTA. It's valid you're upset by this. At the same time, you can't retroactively do anything about it, unfortunately. So pick your battles. Although I would be wary of eating their food, considering the history of food tampering. Also, you may need to help your family understand nutrition. And just basic science. Bacon grease has 0 protein in it. Because it's fat. Not a protein. It sounds like they think animal products = protein and that plant products can't have protein, and that's just horribly inaccurate. ETA: To be clear, the comment about teaching their family about protein was sarcasm because they actually did this to humiliate her, not give her protein. Although OP could give them science/nutrition lessons as a tongue in cheek way to insult them,” she said.

Another user commented, “NTA - Make some brownies and bring them over. Let everyone eat but you don't eat. When they ask, ‘Because I know what's in them,’ and do not elaborate further and just go home.”

A third one mentioned, “That's plain disrespectful. As a vegetarian I am very conscious of what I'm eating, incorporating foods high in vitamins, minerals and protein. I get annual blood tests and I am very healthy. If people started sneaking meat into my food I would find it a violation of ethics and I wouldn't be able to trust them anymore. Maybe sneaking some laxatives under the guise of helping them clear their digestive systems would help them understand 😏 *edit: the laxatives comment was meant to be tongue in cheek 😆 I guess I'm naive to think anyone would take that seriously! NTA.”

An individual shared, “NTA and I mean, no offense, but those members of your family are mean little sociopaths. What else have they been doing to you secretly over the years? If you developed a food allergy would they think you were faking it and try and poison you?”

“NTA It's a about respect, which they didn't have for you. I would tell them that this really changes how you view them and your relationships with them. Hold them accountable, whenever they say they're being truthful just point out that you can't really know that because they have a history of lying to you. You don't have to get mad, just be upfront that you see them differently now and that's their fault. You don't have to cut them off or anything but some healthy distance won't hurt,” a second one wrote.

“I've been vegetarian for 20+ years and I would be absolutely livid if I found out someone had done that to me. That would be a no-contact situation. Honestly it's not even about the meat. Messing with someone's food is really fucked up. Messing with someone's food over a long period of time as some kind of sick ‘game’ and openly laughing at you about it is even worse. They betrayed your trust FOR FUN. You're absolutely NTA and I hope you're able to find a group of people who aren't abusive psychopaths,” a comment read.

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