For 25 years, I abode without question. I was ingrained with the historical significance of stories that made pork forbidden to me, my family, and the world’s entire Muslim population. It became second nature. As I grew and reached the inevitable point of questioning one’s religion, I maintained my unporkitude, holding my discipline as a point of pride. “Does that have pork in it? Oh…No thanks.” My friends berated me, asking why this single abstinence had out lasted all others. I drink alcohol, philander with women (albeit only one. I call her ‘girlfriend’), gamble within my means, and duck every regulation that doesn’t fit with my lifestyle, yet I did not eat pork.

— Adventures in Pork: What a strange new feeling