That's been the status quo for my entire lifetime. Unfortunately, no one bothered to tell me until I found out a few years ago.
People heard "you don't have to abstain from meat" and never heard the "but you have to do something penitential on Fridays."
I'd rather have a rule for all, so all understand.
we could abstain from tv and the internet.......that would improve our souls. ;^) or better yet try a real fast....not just replacing meat with something else but not eating for a day.