with black beans burgers!
It was a great Tuesday. SB and I had made black bean burgers and she said, "Wow, those look so good. Let me get a pic of you!" I had worked SO hard for almost the entire weekend trying to perfect my black bean burgers. I'm not going to lie, without using an egg, it's kinda tricky! So, I labored tirelessly trying so hard to get it just right. And I did! I was proud. This is the pic right before we dug into them. Thinking nothing of it, I posted the burgers on Facebook, just like, "Hey, here's some black bean burgers I made." I touched on eating plant-based and the excitement to have survived my first month of being vegan. Nothing controversial at all. Well, SB and I loaded into the car and went to go walk the trail at Barfield Park. If you've never done that and are local, it's worth the quick drive to the edge of Murfreesboro for a nice easy hike. As we pull into the parking lot, I checked the Facebook post just to see if anyone had seen the burgers yet. Now looking back it was just the terrible habit I had of constantly checking all my notifications. ANYWAY, much to our surprise, there were HUNDREDS of comments. I'm talking in the upwards of like 150 comments in less than an hour. We were floored. At first, it was so exciting to see all the people who thought they looked great-not that I need their approval, but it's like "hey, they look great!" and that's a good feeling. But whoa man. NOTHING could have prepared us for all of the backlash. It's strange how many people think that once you quit eating meat, you turn in your "country card" so to speak. Not to mention one's "man card" since I guess only ladies get to enjoy the delicious fruits and veggies of the earth. The hate speech and name calling was heartbreaking. Not that it broke MY heart personally-I'm tough. You can't say much I haven't heard or don't anticipate hearing, but it broke my heart for humanity. For the assumptions, presumptions, and expectations people seem to vomit onto you on social media. I don't want my page to be home for anyone to go and find ugly names or any sort of vibe that may make them feel like they don't belong.
If you've followed me long, you know that I live my life so publicly and am privileged to share my awesome life with you all. However that day, I felt under attack. Back when I was in TERRIBLE health making awful decisions, no one ever screamed at me "Hey big guy, maybe you SHOULDN'T chug whisky from the bottle EVERY night on stage!", yet were so quick to type in all caps that because I don't eat meat I'M NOT EVEN A MAN ANYMORE. Seriously??? What is even the rationale behind that thought process? I understand not everyone has to believe what I believe, but when did we become so bold to tell someone they're wrong-about black bean burgers! It's funny now, but at the time, the experience really taught me a lot. It was one of the motivators to get back to my site here and really spend my attention where it's deserved.
I hope you enjoy the photo of my black bean burgers. If you're lucky, maybe one day, I'll post the recipe! -SMO