My part-time job

Fateh ji,

I am 17 and have been looking for a part-tome job along with my A levels since i was 16 but because of the recession predominantly i didn't manage to get a job. recently i got offered a part-time job at wilkinsons. For those who don't know this is a large company that specialises in home products. The particular store that i work in as a cashier randomly has two fridges which stores meat products and eggs and sandwiches along with your ordinary bottled drinks and salads etc. I made it clear to all memebers of my team that i am a strict vegetarian and am afraid i am not willing to handla the meat and egg products. They were very sympathising and we came up with the solution that because i am specifically a christmas cashier, when meat products are brought to the till i will ask someone in my team to scan the product for me. Or if i cannot do this it will ask the customer to hold the product whist i scan it so that i do not have to touch it, if i am doing the scanning i will expalin to them that as you can tell i am a sikh and so all it is, is that im a vegetarian. Eitherway only once or twice will someone approach me with a meat product and so it isn't mcuh of an issue because i dont really have to deal with it because i will get someone else to scan it.

My parents are also very happy i have now managed to get a job after a year and a half. I am saving the money so that it is easier for me to travel independantly to smagams and to aid my driving lessons fee's etc. and dasvandh of course.

I just wanted to check if what i am doing is acceptable to the sangat?
It is very hard to avoid meat etc. in work nowadays but i see this as an opportunity to do parchar in the sense that i can inform people know i am sikh and i am a strict vegetarian. Everyone in my team knows know that i will not touch meat or other associated products.
The other thing is pet food. Pet food consists of meat in tins etc. I am under the assumption that pet food isn't a problem because it is the natural diet of those specific animals such as dogs?

I myself only take food from sarabloh utensils hence why this situation was and perhaps is difficult for me.

hahahah i have a dog whom i have to feed meat and have had to share a kitchen with other family members and other people who eat meat. this is no biggie......you could just wear gloves.

my dog is a vegetarian.

anyway, i used to volunteer at a food pantry where we distributed food to poor families. here's how i handled it. the "fresh" or frozen meat and eggs i wouldn't handle, i let my team mates do that part. they can leak and the containers aren't very strong. but for canned goods, i just dealt with it. i mean, you don't really come in contact with the product when they're packaged in a can. if the can was damaged, then i wouldn't touch it. but when the meat is essentially behind a wall of steel, i don't think it's as big a deal. we're not eating it ourselves or taking it into our homes, right? so since dog food is usually in a can or in a dry form in a plastic bag, i'd think you'd be ok. just wash your hands well after work, and when in doubt, do ardaas.

It is good that you are conscious of your Gurmat responsibilities and perhaps for a normal Sikh, what you do may be fine but if you have high spiritual aspirations, if your spiritual aims are high, then this Daas suggests that you find such job where you don't have to have even such small contact with meat. What may happen over the time is that you may lose apprehension to handle meat and you may become too familiar with meat and may no longer be uneasy handling it. That will be detrimental to your spiritual health. There are millions of opportunities in the lotus-Hands of Guru Sahib. If you do Ardaas, many opportunities will open up for you.

Guru Sahib knows better.

Kulbir Singh