Funnily enough about an hour age I had an argument with a vegan who condescendingly said to me "You've been brainwashed since you were a child, it's not your fault..." When I suggested that eating meat is OK.
That being said, that girl doesn't speak for the vegan community, and if she did everyone would hate them! People like you are what vegans should be; presenting the concept in an intelligent way, and inviting people to try.
I'm happy that I share a thought process with a lot of people on here. The vast majority of people feel this way about animal suffering, so we should lead by example. I hope that as someone who is dipping their toes in the water that I can appeal to the average Joe that is on the fence.
I also have two close friends who are vegans ( @kenistyles and @iamjamie ) and they are a good representation of vegans because they are vegan, but they don't judge people who aren't. Yes, there are the arseholes like in every country, religion and community, but they do not represent the masses, and I'm happy that the comments on here are not full of hate, but full of intelligent people offering intellectual insights from both points of view.
Thank you for your eloquent post. You've earned yourself a follow :-)
:)