My food philosophy | I dont like meat

The other day I saw a girl complaining on a blog about getting a lot of [bad] comments when she says that she doesn't eat meat, that i decide to share with you my food philosophy [as my mom calls it]! I hope my experience can help anyone that is trying to be vegetarian or vegan an keeps hearing comments from family and friends!  ***SORRY FOR THE LONG POST***

So I always had a problem with eating meat -- and no, I don't have any underlaying altruistic motive --  I just don't appreciate the taste and texture of meat!

It all started when I was in kinder-garden, about 20 years ago! I used to go this school that had a canteen and all the kids had to eat in the canteen. However, the food was awful! Really disgusting! I didn't like it at all. Specially the meet -- it was always way over cooked, and chewy and tasted just bad!
My mom is a wonderful cook and I would eat meat at home without any problem but in school just the smell would make me sick!
 And I knew the other kids didn't like it either but they would eat everything as fast as they can so that they could go play after lunch.
So, since I didn't like the it started to not eat it. I would eat my rice and vegetables and leave the meat on the plate.
The ladies that worked there -- they didn't care if i liked it or not -- they just wanted me to eat it. It was "the rules" ! So they started to punish me. They would not let me leave the table until I was finished and they would let me play in the playground.
Once, they forced me to eat it because they were bored of being there looking at me waiting for me. I got so sick that I threw up on the table.

After that I started to be really sicken [in portuguese "enjoada" is the correct word] of meat.
It got to a point that I could not even eat it a home.
So of-course my mom noticed and asked me what was happening, and I told her.
The next day she went with me to the school and talked to the responsible.
The bitch told my mom that I had to eat everything because if they allowed that, then the other kids would want to not eat their vegetables or their soup or whatever they didn't want!
My mom even asked If i could bring my own food, and they said "No, because this is a fancy private school, only poor kids bring their own food" [Maybe she didn't said it like that but that is how i remember].


My mom didn't want to take me out of that school because it was a very good school, and I didn't want to leave either because I had all my friends there and the school had so many fun extra-curricular activities that I loved.
So I continue to endure the torture of having to eat meat and my mom stopped cooking meat for me at home. She only made me stuff that I loved.
Most of the times I would go to the bathroom trow up all my lunch just after eating eat.
Thats how bad i hated it.

Two years passed, and I went to a different school - primary school.
There I could bring my own lunch.
And that what I did for all the years I went to school.

I have a follow (more or less) a vegetarian diet since I was 5. But I try to eat chicken or lean beef every now and than. I also eat fish! Love fish and seefood! And cheese and milk! Yumms!
I know my body needs some animal protein and I rather eat it then to have to take pills or whatever.

During my teen years I also found very hard to go out with my friends and try to not eat meat out -- if they wanted to get pizza or they wanted to get an hamburger, most of the times I would stay home and not go just because I didn't want to eat that and there was not vegetarian options. I was sick of comments like "oh shit who invited veggie-girl? I don't want to eat grass for dinner!".
But a really great friend of mine told me one day that the stupid bitched from kinder-garden was still making me feel miserable about meat, 10 years later!

 
So I came up with a plan: I decided to chose ONE day of the week where I am allowed to eat meat. And usually I try eat meat on a day that I am going out with my friends. This no problem for them, no problem for me. There is still a big "drama" for me to eat meat at a restaurant -- i am completely afraid of the taste! And me not liking the taste or texture -- oh it still happens, a lot! But my friends understand and they appreciate that I try to make an effort to fit it!

When I tell someone this story I usually get one of these to answers:
1) you cannot be a vegetarian AND eat meat
2) omg how can you not like meat? it is the best thing ever

I want to be in between! I like to be in between! What do you think?
If you have any question about this, let me know!