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So I got some emails regarding my high school reunions this week. Wait, do I tell you what number? Oy I don’t really care but sometimes these younger little cretins will tune you out if you say you are “older”. Well, hey ya’ little douchecopters it’s my 30th high school reunion and I f-in’ rock!
Did I tell you I got a new phone and I still can’t figure the fucking thing out? It keeps dinging at me. Stop it!
Anyway, oh yea 30 years. Oh and why did I say “reunions” you might ask? Well, I was born and raised in one place and then I moved to another place 2 hours away when I was a junior in high school. Really incredibly crappy time to move, took me about 20 years to get over. Seriously, I’m not kidding.
But anyway I go to the reunion of the high school I actually graduated from and then I go to the reunion of the place that is really my home. The place I call home is where I was born, my 5 brothers and sisters were born and my Dad was born and my Dad’s parents were born. Anybody before that came from Ireland. So there was a lot of tradition there. The other place I was a fish out of water but still made some good friends.
The last several reunions I went to both reunions. This year, wouldn’t you know it both are on the same weekend. I think I’ll probably go to the place I was born reunion.
But a lot of you are probably saying, “HS reunion, blech I’d never go to mine I hated high school”. Sorry but you people kind of bug me as those “sour grapes” types. Someone had to say it and I finally did. I know, so much in this world is “not cool” and it’s really cool to shun things. But honestly, I had some of the best times of my life at reunions.
So you may have been picked on in high school or not one of the cool ones, what better way to say “in your face, you didn’t take me down, I’m still here and I make a lot of money now, so suck it”. Or something to that effect… than to go to your reunion and look ’em in the eye and smile?
I’m not saying high school was the best time of my life… because college was. But it’s not about high school per say, it’s about your childhood. That’s why I feel so much more comfortable at the place I grew up because those were people, some of which I have known from pre-school. Who else can you laugh with about the kid in 1st grade who always tucked his shirt into his underpants which showed out his pants and had a strange attraction to the nuns at school?
It’s familiar, it’s home. It’s Mom and Dad, and the street where you lived, and the stoops you sat on, and the corner store. It’s not about the dickhead named “Meat” that used to stuff you in a locker. It’s not about Denise who told everyone you were a slut. Remember the good childhood pals you had. Also, I almost guarantee you will befriend Meat and Denise at the reunion..
People change. Everyone is an asshole as a teenager. Even my own kids. Ok, not really kids, sorry. But they can do jerky things at times. And every time I went to a reunion the kids who were assholes in high school either A.) Don’t show up because they are miserable people to begin with and think it’s stupid or they are embarrassed because they don’t look like they did in high school (i.e. weight gain or hair loss). B.) They show up and they are really nice to you and say they are sorry for being an asshole in high school or C.) Show up and just kind of stick to the other idiots they hung with in high school. They aren’t mean to anyone but they are embarrassed about what a putz they were in high school. They had enough guts to show up but not quite enough to apologize. And that’s ok.
I’ve never once encountered someone being a jerk at a high school reunion. Nor has anyone I’ve ever known. It’s actually always been kind of a… healing process. I don’t know if that’s the right term. You just kind of get to clear up some stuff in your head. You get apologies. You find out what really happened on prom night. You find out why Joey was really kicked off the football team. You find out that Linda really broke up with you not because she didn’t like you but because her Mother made her because Mom was an alcoholic and getting a divorce and if she couldn’t be happy, no one could. (seriously, this happened) It’s like an episode of “Unsolved Mysteries”. And if you’re single you can always hook up with an old flame (that is single) or someone you always wanted to hook up with (that is single). Did that. That was awesome.
Yea, I know we all have Facebook now and that connects you to people but just like internet dating people are COMPLETELY different in person… and when alcohol is involved. I know, my 20th reunion I ended up in a hot tub in a t-shirt and underwear with a bunch of other classmates…
Another added bonus… great business contacts! Seriously, I’ve known so many people who made connections, got new business, found new jobs, or found funding for a project. It’s a great networking opportunity.
So before you poo-poo the high school reunion again, just think about it… get the stick out of your ass and see it as a positive experience. 🙂