Freedom Of Diet Choice

This is from an opinion piece by Ted Nugent in the Waco Tribune-Herald.

I have musical touring associates who have been fired from their jobs with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney for sneaking a hamburger.

You heard that right. Fired for eating meat by an animal-rights maniac, hard-core vegan bass player.

The entire agenda of the gazillion-dollar-financed joke known as PETA literally is dedicated to outlawing meat.

Neither I, nor any hunter or meat eater on the planet, has any desire whatsoever to influence any vegetarian’s choice of diet or to force them to eat meat. We are the friendly, tolerant Americans.

A couple of things here, first, Ted is maybe implying that he has inside information about Paul McCartney firing folks because they eat meat. I haven’t heard this anywhere else but, I’m pretty out of the loop.

Also, I have friends that absolutely loathe Ted Nugent. I have seen adults go into a rage at the sight of Ted on T.V. Nugent is a polarizing figure and that’s the way he intends it. I don’t have a problem with Ted. I know that Nugent’s heavy-handed approach to voicing his opinion is his act. If he went around talking about wildlife management in a calm fashion, nobody would be paying attention.

I don’t have any problem with Sir Paul either. If it’s true that he fired some crew personnel for eating meat; that’s his business. He can fire people for any reason he wants. It’s his show. If you can’t tolerate being around carnivores in a work situation, it’s probably a good idea to mention that before hiring. That may be the case also, these guys may have broken a rule, who knows.

The reason this caught my eye is this story.

In the late ’80s I was in a band out in Arizona that never really got off the ground and broke up rather suddenly. There was a booking agent/club owner from Ottumwa, Iowa named Ken Summers that I had worked with a lot. Ken was an intimidating figure that was known for running his bands with an iron fist but, if he took a liking to you he would always find you steady work.

I was driving back towards the Ozarks with maybe enough money to make it home. I called Ken from a pay phone to see if he had a spot for me. Ken said, “Get on up here to Ottumwa; I got a band here that needs you”. I drove up to Iowa and met up with the guys at an old two story house that Ken used for band lodging. They were kind of stand offish as is often the case with a new guy coming in. Actually, the guy I was replacing was the friendliest of the bunch; he seemed ready to move on.

The next morning we got up early and spent a long day going over songs. This band had been through several lead guitar players in their recent history and they were probably a little reluctant to get too excited about another one in a long line. I wasn’t getting a good vibe, didn’t feel any spark.

After the long rehearsal, all of us except the guitarist I was replacing, went to dinner. So there was three other guys and myself. I hadn’t had a good meal in a while so I ordered a Rib-Eye steak. All three of these guys immediately let me know that they were vegetarians.

Now, I had been around and worked with vegetarians before but these three seemed to have a chip on their shoulders about it. Maybe, it was because they spent all their time in the Midwest, in the heart of cattle country, and they were in the minority. I don’t know why really but they spent the whole evening berating and making fun of me for eating meat. It really took the enjoyment out of the meal.

That night I sat at the bar and watched the band play the gig. The current guitarist’s girlfriend was there and she started a fight with a waitress and she got escorted out of the club. She went back to the band house and all her luggage was sitting in the street. It was a weird scene getting weirder.

Later, I sat around thinking about the lackluster rehearsal, the dinner, the overall strange vibe and the fact that I was still dog-tired from the travel. I had an overwhelming feeling that this wasn’t going to work for me.

So, I went to Ken’s office the next morning. I was just going to tell him that I was going to pass on this one and give him a general over-view as to why. I mean, I had no particular reason, it was a combination of things.

I said, “Ken, I don’t want to play with these guys”.

“Why?”

“Well, they’re vegetarians…”

Vegetarians!, Ken shouted. “You’ve got to be shittin’ me, no wonder they can’t keep a guitar player”.

I swear to God, that was all he needed to hear. I didn’t get to tell him anything else about it. I don’t think he would have been half as offended if I’d just told him they were a bunch of escaped convicts. He was apologizing to me for getting me into this mess and, the next minute, on the phone with the bandleader expressing his disdain. I didn’t feel bad for the guy either after the previous night’s dinner.

Anyway, contrary to what Ted Nugent says, I have seen what can only be called prejudice on both sides of “choice of diet” issue.

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Tags: Paul McCartney, Ted Nugent, vegetarians