I've been a vegetarian and I live in a 50% vegetarian household--my son and husband do not eat meat (they do eat dairy, cheese, eggs) and my daughter and I do eat meat.
For me, I like a lot of variety and found that I really missed the choices and the taste that meat provides--especially when eating out. My daughter seems to have inherited my eating habits, so she is always keen on trying anything new/different. She doesn't seem to enjoy any kind of beef at all, I think the texture is too much. However, she will devour shrimp or chicken. I also do not feel very well if I don't eat a little bit of meat during the week--I get headaches.
That being said, I detest guerilla eaters on both sides--the holier/healthier than thou vegetarians and the meat eaters who have to challenge even the most low-key vegetarians (the idiots who say, "What about killing broccoli? Isn't THAT wrong--blah blah blah?").
People are omnivores by nature, however we also have the ability to make conscious choices about what we eat and many people can successfully survive w/o animal products. It has gotten easier over the years--more products are available in mainstream stores. I am good with the choices people make as long as they don't act like jerks about it either way. I was at a local soup/salad bar chain and I heard a guy whining, "Why did you take me HERE? There's no meat here." There are also about 50 things to choose from, get over it and eat the good food available. It's not like eating a salad is going to kill him (they even had real bacon bits if he's that weirded out by salad, jeez...).
