"Trading Spouses"

[Carolyn Tillie]

I just got this e-mail:

Fox Television’s “Trading Spouses” is currently seeking a family that lives on a vineyard and/or owns a winery to participate in a show that highlights various cultures and lifestyles of families across America.

Families must consist of two parents and at least one child over the age of six. Families chosen for the show receive compensation up to $50,000.00.

Please call Alexis at 323.802.0586 and I’ll be happy to give you more details about the show. If you know any other families who may be interested, please pass this information along.

Thanks!

[tsquare]

No doubt to trade with a Mormon teetotaller living in a tiny house in downtown Salt Lake City - no make that suburban Utah.

[Jaymes]

Did anyone see Louisiana Cajun Mom trades with California Activist Vegan Mom?

Would love to know how THAT turned out.

[Jason Perlow]

Oh man, I would PAY to see that one Jaymes.

[Chris Amirault]

Did anyone see Louisiana Cajun Mom trades with California Activist Vegan Mom?Would love to know how THAT turned out.

←

WARNING: all of my anti-vegan prejudices are about to be exposed.

It was a riot. The Cajun mom (a total sweetie who was portrayed to be far more intelligent than her Cali hosts) wanted to make alligator gumbo at a party, and when she told the family, they absolutely freaked out. So she changed and made the entire Cajun feast vegan: vegetables, tofu, the whole nine yards. They loved it -- but the vegans still managed to try to shame this woman who had worked all day making food for them when she tried to give them a gift (of course, an alligator skull). Cajuns 1, vegans 0.

Meanwhile, the shrill, overbearing, smug, judgmental (ok, flame off) vegan mom spent virtually the entire episode trying to convert the Cajun family, and particularly the kid, to veganism. The eight year old boy regularly drilled holes into her lame logic for veganism; in response to his valid critiques, she would tell him that he was being disrespectful. When this family's Cajun pals all came over, they were treated to a truly horrific vegan feast AND a video about inhumane animal practices. Cajuns 2, vegans 0.

At the end of the show, the two moms sit down together and talk: Cajun mom compliments the vegan family, their hospitality, their willingness to try vegan Cajun; vegan mom dresses down Cajun mom for her kid's behavior and suggests a new family dietary regimen.

Sure, the fact that this woman didn't simply hang out in Cajun country and eat every item of food placed within arm's reach gets my panties twisted. But, more importantly, her thorough contempt for these folks and their culture proved she was, in the end, just a big asshole.

Final score, Cajuns 3, vegans 0.

Just like it'd happen in the real world....

edited because I can't spell when my panties are twisted -- ca

Edited January 7, 2005 by chrisamirault (log)

[Jaymes]

Did anyone see Louisiana Cajun Mom trades with California Activist Vegan Mom?Would love to know how THAT turned out.

←

WARNING: all of my anti-vegan prejudices are about to be exposed.

It was a riot....

When this family's Cajun pals all came over, they were treated to a truly horrific vegan feast AND a video about inhumane animal practices.

And what did the Cajun mom get the Vegan family with the $50,000? I saw in the ads for the show that... "You won't believe what $10,000 of it was for!!!"

So what was it? Are you like me... Are you hoping it was ten-thousand bucks worth of pork chops?

[markovitch]

i would just like to speak up for vegans for a moment.

that woman was a horrible person. she could have been the world's biggest advocate of pork, or anything... she'd still be a horrible person. beat up on the woman's character, not a generalized class of people you don't f*****g know.

end rant.

[Jaymes]

that woman was a horrible person.  she could have been the world's biggest advocate of pork, or anything... she'd still be a horrible person.  beat up on the woman's character, not a generalized class of people you don't f*****g know.

And of course, all of this is true. But that woman, AND her friends, had about them an air of smug, self-righteous, self-congratulatory condescension that, it's been my experience anyway, one rarely sees in "advocates of pork."

[markovitch]

you're a member of a large community of pork advocates. many of us are smug ;)

i re-read my post, and i see it is terse, but i just wanted to point out that you could remove the word vegan from all the previous posts, and the character assassination still stands.

it all just stank of back benching, y'know? e-gullet is better than that.

[Jaymes]

you're a member of a large community of pork advocates.  many of us are smug ;)

So okay, you've got me there.

[Chris Amirault]

you're a member of a large community of pork advocates.  many of us are smug ;)

i re-read my post, and i see it is terse, but i just wanted to point out that you could remove the word vegan from all the previous posts, and the character assassination still stands. 

it all just stank of back benching, y'know?  e-gullet is better than that.

←

My goodness.... If one can't flame -- with full disclaimers, warnings, and admissions of a full-on, subjective hissy-fit, no less! -- a judgmental vegan in a thread on eGullet, then what's next? Where can we go with our critiques of Martha Stewart, McDonalds, the anti-foie-gras gang, and -- shudder -- Bobby Flay?