I ran across an old episode of "Wife Swap" from the UK. You remember that show? Not exactly sure how it came on, YouTube just sort of does what it wants sometimes. Here it is if you're interested.

They're British, and as such, quite unattractive the lot (sorry). If you're not familiar with the show, basically they send two wives to each others' homes for ten days. They've got to deal with the other's husband, kids, routine, finances, etc. Honestly, it's fascinating from a MRP perspective.

This one really grabbed me in several ways. Obviously, in an effort to make it a "fish out of water" story, they put the wives in dramatically different environments. In this one, there is a rich man and a poor man.

The rich man comes home from work and spends the rest of the day and weekends in his man-cave playing XBOX and slot machines. Occasionally he goes to the pub to play slot machines as well. He pays his wife to do everything. 5 pounds to iron a shirt, 10 pounds to take the boy to his karate lesson. There's even a not-so-subtle allusion to him paying her for sex.

The poor man is poor--and I mean fucking poor. Not exactly sure of the exchange rate, but I reckon his family of four survives on less than $1000 a month.

The poor man OWNS HIS SHIT. He works full time. He cooks. He cleans. He plays with the kids. He saves up all week to take the family out to an arcade on Saturdays.

This rich, boojie, well-dressed, spoiled-to-shit wife ends up at the poor man's house and HAS A BLAST! By the end of the 10-day stint, she's openly talking about leaving her rich husband. The poor wife goes to the rich man's house and is absolutely disgusted by his behavior.

The money plays such a minor role in the dynamic as to be nearly inconsequential. Quite the eye-opener.

Lessons Learned

  • Own your shit
  • Be fun
  • Lead your family
  • Fuck the money