For benefit of those who missed this show (or who turned it off early
because she felt picked on again), here's a brief summary. This show
would benefit anyone who's never had the misfortune of encountering a
vegan. It showed what vegans are like, what they think and believe, and
how they interact with normal people.

The vegan wife, Jackie, forces her entire household (including the cat)
to consume a raw vegan diet. Her actions extend beyond herself and her
household: she protests meat and hands out leaflets to strangers on the
street in an attempt to get them to live according to her peculiar
"principles." Part of those principles at home included getting rid of
their stove and many of their possessions; her home became increasingly
spartan as she sank deeper into her kooky vegan abyss.

The best way to explain her average day is that she focuses on the
things most out of her control and avoids dealing with the things most
within her control. Her husband Harold WANTS to eat meat but fears doing
so for the consequences he'd face from Jackie (note: he expressed no
fear of consequences to his health from it). Harold also overworks to
avoid coming home because Jackie is too busy navel-gazing, sun-gazing,
bitching, domineering, and protesting to clean house or do other mundane
things; he's adopted the role of housemaid by default. The whole family
were kind of drifting apart and becoming more dysfunctional, with Harold
and the daughter afraid to speak up about any of the changes (dietary,
anti-"decorating," etc.).

Jackie ends up trading places with a wife from a family who hunt out of
necessity. With her vegan psyche already very weak and fragile, Jackie
assesses her new situation by going through the fridge (filled with
meat) and the home (filled with taxidermy). As most vegans are, she's
condescending in sizing up her new family. To her credit, though, I
didn't think she was nearly as condescending as the vegan witch Barbara
from Fox's _Trading Spouses_ last year.

During one memorable segment, Jackie became emotional -- nearly
hysterical -- trying to explain how difficult it was for her to go to an
all raw diet. She offered some psychobabble comparing the whole
experience to alcoholism. To that bizarre melodrama, the other husband
(Ricky) apologized and said he didn't realize it would be so traumatic
for her.

As in the _Trading Spouses_ episodes on Fox in this vein last year, the
vegan wife felt compelled to show her new family some videos from animal
rights groups even after preaching to them about veganism for an entire
week. Jackie became an emotional wreck while watching them, even though
she said she's seen them many times before. Though the kids were briefly
stunned by such portrayals of farming (which are atypical), they didn't
exactly embrace the idea of eating nuts and fruits.

Ultimately, her attempts to convert the family in Kentucky failed. Since
the swap, they've added more vegetables to their meals but haven't given
up hunting or eating meat. Meanwhile, Jackie's kept the stove Bobbi (the
normal wife who ended up having to deal with milquetoast Harold) had
brought in and has even resumed eating some cooked foods. She admitted
maybe she was taking things too far. I'm sure her husband agrees she
*had* taken things too far, even if he lacks the courage to tell her how
****ed up he really thinks she is.

The moral of the story is that vegans DO take things too far. They try
to proselytize others, and they're usually very emotional and aggressive
about it. They think they're doing something virtuous and informative by
telling others not to eat meat, but vegans always end up coming across
as emotive, uninformed jackasses.

I also think vegans should go on more shows like this. First, it's very
entertaining. Second, it's illuminating for the wider population --
especially those in areas without or with very few vegans. Finally, it's
therapeutic in the sense that vegans on these shows seem to benefit from
interacting with *normal* people. For example, Jackie is again eating
cooked food. The vegan mother in the Fox show (Barbara) even ate meat
with the Cajun family.