Real Housewives of ___ County

One "Real Housewives" cast.
Or, my most recent backyard BBQ.

I don't know about you, but I find "reality" TV shows to be completely hilarious.  Particularly after a good friend and her then-fiance were on one of the cake-making shows, getting a cake that they didn't actually get and celebrating with people who didn't actually exist, I have been skeptical as to the "reality" of any of them.  Don't get me wrong--the cake was real, and it was tasty.  But she didn't actually own a Porsche smaller than the cake and it didn't actually serve as her engagement cake.  So I take the shows with a grain of salt.

Until now.

Perhaps you have had the opportunity to watch one of the Bravo Network's several "Real Housewives" shows.  They take place in areas around the country and focus on 4-8 women who are neither real nor "housewives" by the typical definition.  Instead, they are wealthy, often obnoxious women who run around and bitch at and about each other, their husbands, their kids and their plastic surgeons.  The shows are horrible.  And I have actually watched a number of them and, on occasion, enjoyed 10 minutes or so.  Typically I watch in small doses, though, because so-and-so making fun of the other blonde bimbo for crying over a hangnail becomes too much to take in one sitting.  But it's all fake, so why not.  Or so I thought. 

This weekend I caught a glimpse into the life of a family acquaintance and let me tell you, it was horrifying.  It was horrifying because it looked alarmingly like an episode of "Real Housewives."  And she was proud of this fact.  She was talking about how her friend had a party and people came just to see this friend's house and everyone was fake-mortified because someone didn't take her shoes off...and on and on and on.  And she was insanely proud of this fact and was talking about how I could be a part of it.  I was waiting for some sort of divorce drama or a Botox story to make its way into the tale (which, it ultimately did).  I was shocked and very, very afraid.

So here's the thing.  I am starting to think that maybe I am the one who is insane.  It is possible (just possible) that it is my view of the world that is skewed.  What if the world really is like a reality TV show?  What if there are people out there who race one another for no reason?  What if there are people who beat their relatives into submission in order to force them to lose weight?  What if the dating world really is like The Bachelor? 

If anyone needs me, I'll be in my house, hiding.