As a vegan, I can safely say that the faster PETA dies, the better off veganism and vegetarianism are. Absolutely insane.
The funny thing is, in the three years that I've been vegan, I've had three different people, all of different ages and backgrounds switch to veganism after learning that I'm vegan, without me spending as much as a single second preaching to them. In addition, I've had several others express interest. There is little point in trying to guilt people into doing something; there are enough people out there that are interested in vegetarianism/veganism and simply don't have their facts straight, and are worried about a switch (as I was for over 10 years). These people will come to you; forcing your beliefs on anyone is rarely a good idea.