How hard is it for people to understand vegetarian means NO meat?

So I just had my first "bad" experience with a restaurant/room service since becoming vegetarian.

Basically I could have about 5 things, only one of which was main and one that was on the children's menu, both pasta dishes. The other options were bruschetta, wedges and garlic bread. Not the best of options. The main pasta dish was goat's cheese & pumpkin ravioli - I don't eat cheese if I can help it (because it does make me feel ill, as well as the whole coming-from-an-animal thing, haha)

I called them, explained that I was vegetarian, explained the cheese thing. I asked what I could have, then, besides the entree/side options. I got offered the wok-tossed spaghetti without the chicken. Now, this would've been fine if it didn't also have shrimp. I was like "uhm, what? There's still shrimp in there", and I got the response "ohhh, you're really vegetarian". I was like, well, yes. I say I'm vegetarian, it means I don't eat meat period. Nothing. Not chicken, not fish, not oh-I-don't-eat-meat-except-for-.... NOTHING. Got it? Good.

Then I was offered the bruschetta. I was like, yeah, okay, except I want something filling. Bruschetta is all well and good and I like it, but it's not that filling. I want a meal, not a snack. So I sighed, gave up, and asked for the spaghetti napoli from the kid's menu & some garlic bread. She was like "uhh...sure, okay, yes" I was like, cool. Got told it would be up in 30 minutes.

It was a bit more awkward than that, mostly due to me still being a very awkward person, but yeah. It's not hard to have like, a vegetarian pastry on your main menu or a stack of roast vege or something other than pasta. Really, it's not.

The good thing, though? My meal came up to my room in about 5 - 10 minutes. So, points for that.