Recently the world required me to upgrade to a smart phone. Believe it or not, I had used my little “dumb” red phone for almost nine years. Nowadays the new phones do not last that long.
Even though I am fairly tech-savvy, I felt resistant to the change because my old phone was still working just fine… But since it had become a phone dinosaur, I surrendered to what needed to happen and bought the smallest iPhone, in red, of course.
Next I went searching for a case… and as a vegan, I was horrified that almost every case on Amazon seemed to be made of leather, a material made from the skins of animals who suffered and were killed… I just could not believe it, given the rise of veganism and the growing demand for all-things-vegan.
Well, after a while, it suddenly occurred to me that most of the product descriptions actually said “PU leather” so I googled and learned that PU leather, or polyurethane leather, is an artificial, synthetic leather made of thermoplastic polymer… And, 100% PU leather is considered vegan. Whew. With that new knowledge, I found a happy red case with a beautiful mandala and plenty of little jewels that make it a bling girl’s heaven.
Once I got my new phone all set up, it was time to record a voicemail message. Suddenly it occurred to me that I could make a vegan message, as a small act of vegan activism! So here is what I recorded for any callers to hear:
“Hi, you’ve reached Teja Shankara, Vegan for the Animals…. Animals feel pain and happiness, just like humans do…. May all beings be free of suffering. May all beings be happy.”
If you are also vegan, perhaps you’d also like to make your voicemail message say why you are vegan… And if you are not yet vegan, please read my post “Can I Help You Find Your Vegan Why?”
One more vegan-related shopping story: last week I was typing a review on Amazon, about some post-it notes that were supposed to be orange-colored but weren’t, and it suddenly occurred to me how silly it was, given all the disturbing things happening in the world, so at that point I wrote:
“So disappointed, but ah well, there's much bigger problems in the world, especially animal agriculture. Those poor animals feel so much pain. I hope everyone goes vegan soon!”
Surprisingly, Amazon published the review!
Vegan activism can (and should) happen any time, any place!!!
