"Oh that's great! That means it's going to cost a lot less money when we go out to dinner....
"No steak for you, and no crab legs, and certainly none of those steamed mussels in garlic butter that you love so much...(Tati has loved steamed mussels in garlic butter since she was three years old... many times when we've gone out, instead of getting an entree, she'd get three orders of steamed mussels...)
"All you get is a salad and maybe a side order of broccoli...
"Just who is it that gave you these Bolshie notions in the first place? (My daughter is very into history; she actually knows what "Bolshie" means...
"Was it Ed? (her boyfriend) he's had no problem when we've had a barbecue...I don't think he's a vegetarian..."
And then she put me in my place...
"No, it's not about anybody else. It's just something I want to do; I've been reading a lot about it, and I think that being a vegetarian is healthier..."
and I said, "well please show me what you've been reading, because I can show you a lot scientific data that shows that a vegetarian diet does not make you healthier...
"Sweetheart, you are skinny, and athletic and active, and that has a lot more to do with your being healthy, then whether or not you eat a cheese burger... "
And then she hit me with the ultimate teenage girl trump card:
"Could you just please respect my wishes..."
(Oh no, not the "please respect my wishes" thing...
I was really hoping she wouldn't play that card....
There's not much that the father of a teenage girl can do when their daughter pulls the "please respect my wishes" card out of the deck...



