Well, I don't remember the exact moment that I knew I wanted to be vegetarian. I think it was something that was always rolling around in my head as "a good idea". I do remember the moment where my resolve to become one was strengthened and I felt like my decision was the right one...
I had a new job working at a hotel in room service. My main job was answering the phones and taking the orders, but as part of the training we had to learn every aspect of the job, including bussing. What this meant was walking around the hotel with a tram and putting empty trays and plates onto it, and then bringing it down to the dish washer station for them to wash. Basically, think restaurant bussing but on a tram and on a much larger scale.
I had to scrape whatever food was left into the bin before I could hand it to the dishwasher. I remember on one plate, lifting up the silver lid to the plate and seeing a huge pile of bacon just on the plate. I would estimate there were at least 25 pieces of bacon on the plate. My guess is that everyone in the family (it was a big family) ordered extra bacon and then chose not to eat any of it. I remember staring at that plate for some time, just thinking how sad it was. I mean, meat eating in general bothers me but at least if the animal is being consumed it's providing SOMETHING, even if I don't agree with it. But this was just a waste. Those pigs died for literally less than no reason.
It was also shocking to me to see the amount of food and money wasted on an economic scale as well. I know it's cliche, but really...people in some countries are dying, but in this one we have the luxury of just saying "eh" and throwing away more meat than some villages in some places get in a year (literally).