Saturday, July 25, 2026 8:50 am
Here’s what ChatGPT recommended I say:
I want to begin by thanking everyone who
planned such a warm and enjoyable luncheon. It was a lovely gathering, and I
really appreciated all the work that went into it.
I did want to mention one small thing. When the
announcement was made, 'There's meat!' in such a celebratory way, I felt a
little sad. More and more people choose plant-based meals for ethical,
environmental, or health reasons. Kaiser Permanente, for example, recommends a
plant-based diet for many people, and many of us are increasingly concerned
about animal welfare and climate change.
I certainly don't expect everyone to share my
views, and I appreciate that there was a choice. I simply hope that in the
future we can celebrate being together rather than celebrate one particular
kind of food. That would feel more welcoming to everyone.
Here’s what I just sent to the OWL Board
members:
Dear OWL Board Extraordinaire!
That was a lovely gathering yesterday, and I
appreciate all the work you all did to make it happen. I especially liked
the opportunity to hear from everyone there, including people I didn't know,
and I felt lucky to be seated next to Eunice, a long-time member I got to know
yesterday, when I found out how wonderful and life-affirming she is! I
was startled by how briefly we heard from Joan, who does so much for us and for
the travel industry! She didn't even mention her recent trip(s)!
I hope we can all learn to use the
microphone. Betty did her best, taking it around to everyone. But
most people didn't know how to hold it. I could hear everything people said,
but some others at my table could not, and I had the impression until we got to
the final table that no one was holding it right. If we have
another OWL Newsletter, maybe we can include this link:
On the subject of the OWL Newsletter,
I feel hopeful about Dana Cayce, whose contact info I now have. She
expressed a willingness to take it on, and I'd like to help her with what
doesn't require her tech-savvy skills. Was it Ed who mentioned the OWL
Newsletter yesterday as the way he kept up with OWL?
Getting back to being life-affirming, when the
announcement was made, "There's meat!" in what may have been heard as
a celebratory way, I felt a little sad. More and more people choose
plant-based meals for ethical, environmental, social justice, or health
reasons. Kaiser Permanente, for example, recommends a plant-based diet for most
people, and many of us are increasingly concerned about animal welfare and
climate change, which are affected by factory farms/animal agriculture, as are
the workers in factory farms, who see and are asked to do horrendous things and
have more injuries than people in other factory jobs. (I'll spare
you details about the dairy and egg-producing industry here.) I know that
eating animals has been normalized for centuries and is still associated with
human pleasure if not with pleasure for other sentient beings. But
I do think that OWL members care about animal welfare, the environment, their
health, and the physical and mental health of workers. Giving choices is
usually a wonderful thing, but if OWL had been in operation during the Delano
Grape Strike, I'm not sure it would have provided grapes.
On the subject of good causes, I'm forwarding
something I just saw about a protest at O'Farrell and Van Ness today, focusing
on the two people most recently killed by ICE.
Again, I admire all of you enormously and
appreciate all your good work!
Tina
