I have to ask—why don’t we have a Hug a Meat-Eater Day? Sure, more people eat meat than don’t, so it wouldn’t be all that special—and being veg is pretty much better for the planet—but doesn’t everyone deserve to be hugged? And if we love animals so much, are we not ostracizing tigers, crocodiles and other meat-eating animals by excluding them from the international vegetarian hug on September 25?

That said, veggies should be hugged next Friday—if nothing else, than for the sheer willpower. Having been a complete vegetarian before (today I’m only mostly vegetarian, I must admit) I can attest to the difficulty of the lifestyle. After being a meat-and-potatoes Midwestern girl all my life, I went veg in college and it was pretty damn hard.

I was on a meal plan, of course, and our campus, while it had some vegetarian options, wasn’t exactly a paradise of non-meat food. I pretty much lived off of cheese sandwiches, bean burritos and the occasional eggplant parmesan when it was offered. It wasn’t fun, but I’m still proud that I did it, and would love to try and go completely vegetarian again someday soon—and maybe get more inspiring with my meals on top of it.

Will you be celebrating Hug a Vegetarian Day? If so, here’s how you might want to do it.

• Um, hug a vegetarian. Ask, “Are you a vegetarian?” If the answer is yes, administer hug. If he or she freaks out, run away fast; if reception is positive, continue hugging until a freak out occurs or the embrace is broken. If the answer is no, mutter, “OK, then,” and walk away, your head hanging down miserably, and continue walking until you find someone who does not eat bacon.
• Go vegetarian for the whole day. Try it out and see if you could do it. If you don’t die, don’t attack a fellow human at the smell of his or her meat, and find that you did enjoy that cucumber salad for lunch, why not go for two days? Or make a day a week a meatless one, just for kicks?

I think it’s still better to have a Hug Your Fellow Sentient Beings Day, which means you can hug just about anything that breathes. That way, nobody is left out and we can really show how much we appreciate and love all life and creatures—not just the ones whose life choices are the same as ours.