RWHN gives you the straight dope.

[AFK]

hardcore vegan

I think I just farted in my mouth a little bit.

That guy wasn't nearly as comical as this other guy I knew, who was also a hardcore vegan....who wore a leather jacket and leather boots. 

[navkat]

Pretty sure I dated that guy...he's one of the ones who used to kiss my hand and call me "m'lady" in a faux english accent, right?

[P3nT4gR4m]

Pretty sure I dated that guy...he's one of the ones who used to kiss my hand and call me "m'lady" in a faux english accent, right?

No, that was Cramulus 

[AFK]

Pretty sure I dated that guy...he's one of the ones who used to kiss my hand and call me "m'lady" in a faux english accent, right?

Nah, he was more like this little runty rat-looking, greasy "metal" guy.  Kind of like a scrawny, long-haired Steve Buscemi, except without any talent what-so-ever. 

[navkat]

Tapped it.

[AFK]

I hope you disinfected afterwords. 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Well, if this was the 19 year-old me you were talking to, you probably would have got a lot of straight-edge bravado.  I've mellowed out a bit with age.

I fucking hate straight-edgers.  Years ago, I lit up a cig in the park in Watertown, NY, and some pushy bastard started giving me serious shit about it, getting in my fucking face about "my example".  In a military town.

Thing is, people with no bad habits are not as likely as I am to have a piece of bicycle chain in their pocket.  Some people have to learn the hard fucking way:  Don't tell me what to do.

I wasn't as bad as this one kid I went to college with who was also a hardcore vegan on top of everything else. 

But, I mostly just got into these big debates with my circle of friends.  Kind of like some of our drug threads, only live and in person.  Luckily, no one ever really took anything too personally.  And more often than not it was about policy, not really getting into the "you do drugs and you're bad!" or the "you don't do drugs and your square!" territories.

The ones I met were in the "We'll beat the drugs out of you." territory.  Which is why I tried to start his head like a lawnmower.

[AFK]

Yeah, that route would have lost me all of those friends.  And given that the number of people I could tolerate at my college was fairly small, it was in my best interest to not get too carried away. 

And eventually, they all basically became drinking buddies anyway.

I was one of those weird kids who didn't start drinking until he turned 21.  Not really sure why.  I wasn't afraid of the law or anything.  I mean, there was never any law around to catch underage drinking. 

But when I turned 21 I became a pretty popular guy.  Most of my friends were a year younger than me, so I became the booze mule.  Of course, one of the perks of being the booze mule for younger friends is free booze. 

One moment that stands out in particular was this one time I was making a particularly large purchase of alcohol for a few different friends.  It was almost like that scene out of Leaving Las Vegas.  I had all of that shit on the cash-out register, and there right next to me was the head of the English Dept at my college.  It felt kind of weird to be buying all of that booze with this esteemed college professor looking on.

But, that was short lived because the next week I saw him at a party smoking pot with some of his students.  Definitely was a pretty liberal college town. 

[trippinprincezz13]

Well, if this was the 19 year-old me you were talking to, you probably would have got a lot of straight-edge bravado.  I've mellowed out a bit with age.

I fucking hate straight-edgers.  Years ago, I lit up a cig in the park in Watertown, NY, and some pushy bastard started giving me serious shit about it, getting in my fucking face about "my example".  In a military town.

Thing is, people with no bad habits are not as likely as I am to have a piece of bicycle chain in their pocket.  Some people have to learn the hard fucking way:  Don't tell me what to do.

I wasn't as bad as this one kid I went to college with who was also a hardcore vegan on top of everything else. 

But, I mostly just got into these big debates with my circle of friends.  Kind of like some of our drug threads, only live and in person.  Luckily, no one ever really took anything too personally.  And more often than not it was about policy, not really getting into the "you do drugs and you're bad!" or the "you don't do drugs and your square!" territories.

The ones I met were in the "We'll beat the drugs out of you." territory.  Which is why I tried to start his head like a lawnmower.

When my boyfriend still lived in Salt Lake, a close friend was beaten nearly to death by a group of "Straight Edge" kids for smoking a cigarette on the sidewalk. And these are hardly isolated incidents, from what I've heard and read. Mind you, if you choose not to smoke or drink or eat meat or whatever, fine by me, just don't get all preachy and agressive if others choose too (because almost killing someone is sooo much better than having a beer or two). But if someone self-identifies as "Straight Edge", I'm going to be leery and likely hold them in the same regard as religious nutjobs, hardcore vegans, or any other fanatical thug trying to impose their beliefs on other people.