Leaving ‘Veggieland’ after a four year stay

Never in my life have I been able to resist Shake ̢۪N Bake.

When mama pulled that pan of crispy golden turkey cutlets out of the oven, my heart just about melted.

I hesitated only a few brief seconds before inhaling two of them, then scraping the fried crispies off the bottom of the pan.

You see, she had mixed the Shake ’N Bake with parmesan cheese, and that is precisely what weakened my knees—and my resolve.

The next morning I was back to being a vegetarian. Or a pescetarian, as we̢۪re actually called, because we eat fish.

I̢۪ve been a fish-eating herbivore since Christmas Eve 2004, and it was hard at first, because I loved meat, but loved animals more.

The first year, I̢۪d go on these meat binges, only to return to Veggieland after a couple of days. By 2006, however, I had turned my back on eating all creatures, save the ones who dwelled in the sea.

I realize this probably makes me a hypocrite, even though we Catholics have never considered fish to be meat; for what reason, I have yet to find out.

But I figured I needed some kind of protein besides rice and beans, and I simply could not do without shrimp.

This is why I find it considerably ironic, this direction my diet has taken.

When PETA debuted their “sea kittensâ€Â campaign about a month ago, I stopped dead in my tracks
.
This new campaign featured little cartoon fish sporting cat ears and whiskers, making it difficult to ignore the pangs of guilt every time I sank my teeth into a fish taco.

By morphing fish into cuddly whiskered kittens, PETA was forcing me to consider the ethical implications of my shrimp addiction.

It was around this time that several other things became clear. On my last date with my dude, before he switched jobs and zip codes, he took me to Famous Dave̢۪s, where I was instantly submerged in meat culture.

But the slabs of beef smothered in barbeque sauce no longer held me in their sway, as they once had.
I even gave it a try again for the heck of it, forking a big bite of brisket into my mouth. But alas, the thrill was gone.

But turkey, that̢۪s another story.

I̢۪ve leapt off the veggie wagon twice for a bite of gobble-gobble, and my interest has been piqued once again.

You see, my relationship with turkey dates way back to the early ‘90s, when my dad went on a turkey binge, buying nothing but gobbler for the better part of the next decade.

By the time I finished high school, though, I was ready to move on and I could never look back at that Thanksgiving staple without a slight shudder.

But something has recently changed. Those cutlets worked their magic on me, thanks to Shake ̢۪N Bake.

Sarah Peterson is a post-baccalaureate student at Fresno State. She holds a BA in English and is returning for a degree in mass communication and journalism, with an emphasis in print journalism. She likes cats.