I dont really hate vegans, just the uber-militant ones.
I just had the worst lunch meeting I have had in ages. Why? Because the representative (selling cloud services) was a vegan. She took us to this totally crappy vegan restaurant and the "food" they served seemed either tasteless or had an odd taste/texture like eating a bug or the insides of a fish. HORRIBLE. She was wearing these weird earrings which were seeds from some kind of tropical plant, and they looked like dead beetles with the legs pulled off. She smelled faintly of pachouli
I have nothing against vegans until they start chastising me for my beloved "animal products". The fossil records show that humans have been eating meat since before Homo Sapiens.
I was visibly annoyed, and although my co-worker was polite and ate his food, he was annoyed too (told me via text while we were sitting at the table). I texted him back "this is not gonna fly" and we both laughed aloud. Towards the end of the meeting, she asked if I enjoyed the food and I was honest and said "I am really not into vegan dishes, but the restaurant is nice". She went into a drawn out rant about "animal products" and how she sometimes feels "physically ill" when she sees people eating steaks (which sounds great right about now). WTF? HORRIBLE MEETING. This would have gone much better if the meeting was in our office conference room with just water and soft drinks and a few snacks. She blew it.
Needless to say, her materials never made it to my desk. I dunno, is it fair to decide to use or not to use a vendor or service based on the behavior of the sales representative? I think it is. Thoughts?
I just had the worst lunch meeting I have had in ages. Why? Because the representative (selling cloud services) was a vegan. She took us to this totally crappy vegan restaurant and the "food" they served seemed either tasteless or had an odd taste/texture like eating a bug or the insides of a fish. HORRIBLE. She was wearing these weird earrings which were seeds from some kind of tropical plant, and they looked like dead beetles with the legs pulled off. She smelled faintly of pachouli
I have nothing against vegans until they start chastising me for my beloved "animal products". The fossil records show that humans have been eating meat since before Homo Sapiens.I was visibly annoyed, and although my co-worker was polite and ate his food, he was annoyed too (told me via text while we were sitting at the table). I texted him back "this is not gonna fly" and we both laughed aloud. Towards the end of the meeting, she asked if I enjoyed the food and I was honest and said "I am really not into vegan dishes, but the restaurant is nice". She went into a drawn out rant about "animal products" and how she sometimes feels "physically ill" when she sees people eating steaks (which sounds great right about now). WTF? HORRIBLE MEETING. This would have gone much better if the meeting was in our office conference room with just water and soft drinks and a few snacks. She blew it.
Needless to say, her materials never made it to my desk. I dunno, is it fair to decide to use or not to use a vendor or service based on the behavior of the sales representative? I think it is. Thoughts?
Maybe because I have gone through this sort of thing being a smoker of cigarettes (going to quit soon), I feel sensitized to the behavior. Its exactly the same, with people fake coughing half a block away when they see me light a smoke. 
. Now, do I react to vendors who show this behavior just because I now have the power of "No"? I think I am experiencing an ethical conflict. 
My colleague did take the materials, so she is not out of the ballpark. 
), especially one that had nothing to do with the business at hand. It makes no sense. What a loon. Personally I'd take this experience as a red flag and I'd give this chick a wide berth. 
I put sports on that list because frequently CEOs of companies are avid sports fans and if you talk sports and are for the "wrong" team, you can screw things up. Yes, its trivial and unrelated to business but it can make or break a deal if you go there with sports and miss the mark.
