Junior Phillip Ensler, a Hatchet columnist, urges students to reach out to the real residents of D.C. through acts of community service, especially when faced with the images of the Real Housewives.

As I prepared to return to D.C. for the semester, I noticed that the premiere of the highly anticipated Real Housewives of D.C. coincided very nicely with my return to the city. I incredulously tuned into the show, yet doing so had a very unexpected effect on me. Rather than just letting the show’s drama soak in and entertain, it caused me to reflect on what role I, as a college student, serve in the city’s social and cultural fabric.

The lavish lifestyles of the Housewives contrast vastly with the city I have come to know. In contemplating the difference between the real Housewives and the real lives of most Washingtonians, I can’t help but think of the famous mid-century photos of impoverished minority children dwelling in the slums of D.C., with the opulent Capitol Building in the background. Those images embodied the harsh disparities that existed between the haves and the have-nots in Washington.