The Glade 4.0

being able to sue isn't the same as winning. Also if they said something is meet free and it wasn't, that is deceptive. The fact that people find their legalism stupid is beside the point.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"

you are entitled to the cost of the meal back, sorry, here is a free one on the house. I find it absurd for a court to start ruling on spiritual damage...who can measure that.

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"Life isn't divided into genres. It's a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you're lucky."
— Alan Moore

I don't have the actual ruling to read, but I doubt that's exactly what the court is saying. More likely, the ruling is that emotional distress is emotional distress, regardless of whether it stems from a spiritual belief or something else. Emotional distress is not measurable either, but you may still be able to seek damages for it. Provided that these 16 people aren't being afforded any more or less opportunity than anyone else to sue for such things (I don't know enough about the situation or the specific judicial standards involved to say), then the ruling was correct.

The ability to sue for emotional distress in general may itself be absurd (for the sake of argument), but even so, two wrongs don't make a right. Equal protection demands equal access to the judicial system, however ridiculous that system might be.

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Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

It should be noted, along with Stathol's observations, that it appears that any vegetarian could claim this emotional distress.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I wonder where vegetarians have to travel in order to have their souls cleansed. The Amazon Rainforest?

Burning Man.

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Les Zombis et les Loups-Garous!

When I was a vegetarian for several years, I picked apart everything before I ate it, looking for hidden meat and even smelling it, haha...especially in things like spring rolls and casseroles and such.
I find it hard to believe that they would just eat something served to them without checking it first.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

The story suggests they went to an Indian restaurant, where presumably they were under the impression that the Indian proprietors were familiar with Hindu dietary restrictions.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

It's also quite possible for 'meat' products to be used in things that is not visible or even obviously smell or tasteable.

Just ask McDonald's (they got sued for adding a small amount of 'meat' flavoring to the vegetable oil they use to cook their fries.

As I understand it, though, strict vegetarians amount to as little as 14% of Hindus, or something, though. Also, did the article say the proprietors were Indian?

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

That quote gave me the impression that the proprietors were Indian. I could be wrong. It could be non-Indians who own and operate an Indian restaurant, though I rather doubt it. It is noteworthy that there is some Hindu support for the restaurant in this case, as if there are many Hindu who feel that a trip to India is excessive.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

Did it hurt their ancestors spiritually as well, since they almost certainly ate meat? Or are they one of the first generations in their lineage to not be spiritually damaged?

Whole Foods

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A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~ John Stuart Mill

None of the above really matters either way, though. They were explicitly told that the meal did not contain meat:

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Sail forth! steer for the deep waters only!
Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me;
For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go,
And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all.

Except I think they are using the fact that they are Hindu Veggies to get a free trip home for a scrub down...

That may very well be, but it doesn't change the fact that they have a valid complaint. They were given a product that contained meat after being explicitly told otherwise. That's a form of false advertising, which is grounds for legal action. It isn't that they don't have valid grounds for a lawsuit, but rather the damages they're asking for are excessive.

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Buckle your pants or they might fall down.

Indeed, on both counts.

I'll be truly amused if they win, though, setting a precedent for high monetary value of such cases, and restaurants, faced with this kind of penalty anytime there's a mistake in serving vegetarian food to anybody claiming to be a vegetarian, simply find it more practical and safe to no longer offer vegetarian food.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

Or have a disclaimer on the door that says something like "Warning: Vegetarian food my contain meat or meat-related products".

I thought about posting that Timmit, but it would sorta defeat the purpose of calling something vegetarian if there 'could be' meat in it... The only people ordering it would be carnivores...

I thought about posting that Timmit, but it would sorta defeat the purpose of calling something vegetarian if there 'could be' meat in it... The only people ordering it would be carnivores...

And how many times did you think about it?

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once?

No, false assumption. Vegetarians have no souls. Souls are built, over time, from the accumulation of the souls of the animals you eat.

I wasn't going for "spiritual damage" If I were king and I ruled that they were indeed willfully deceptive, I'd fine them the actual cost of the plane ticket.

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I prefer to think of them as "Fighting evil in another dimension"