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My 10 Year High School Reunion: I'm Not Bothering

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F

FortNinety

Member
First off, a few things... I wasn't a popular kid in high school. I wasn't a total loser or anything, I had a small group of close friends, and I was known (and generally liked) by various others social circles, but that's pretty much it. Just another face in the crowd.

Actually, I did assault this one kid in the middle of art class... he was a total tool that was giving a friend of mine a hard time... he was giving her the ol "nobody likes me, I'm a freak, so I'm going to make you feel guilty for not dating me by pretending to be suicidal by forcing you to stay up all night on the phone with me"... that kind of douchebag, which promptly lead me to punch him in the face 13 times... I should know the exact number since it was all caught on digital video, which I used in a school project, and got an A! But anyway....

High school was in Washington State and I moved to NYC not long after to study the arts, where I've been ever since. I went back home for the first time two years later and was amazed by how everyone from school all of a sudden remembered who I was; seems word had spread about me going to "The Big Apple" The real thing was, no one else had taken the initiative to pursue a higher education, or follow what they wanted to do. Some went to community college, but most just stuck around getting high and working shitty 9 to 5 jobs, which just paid enough for the next beer/pot party. Or join the military. So all of a sudden, I had become a celeb of sorts, and even the once popular folks who previous didn't even know about me were asking me about NYC and the such.

This would continue for the next few years. At first, it was a real ego booster; afterall, I was just a college student and still a no body really, yet I was getting all this attention. But after awhile, it began to get a bit sad and depressing, hearing these folks' lives get worse and more wasteful. And now when I go back home, I avoid all the popular spots like bars and the like.

Anyway, ten years later and I'm a legitimate success in many ways (I'm a writer who's doing fairly well for himself, I also have my own company, plus I'm a teacher), and the 10 year reunion is just around the corner. I had been planning on going for a few years, but am now reconsidering it. I mean, what's the point really? I only have two real friends back home that I care about, everyone else is some ex-jock or cheerleader who has since long given up on any real hopes or ambitions that just thrives on getting wasted and nothing more. Why waste time bragging about one's achievements to a bunch of people who didn't give two shits about me in the first place ten years ago? Maybe I'd go for a laugh, but considering the price of air-fare ($400!) plus other associated expenses, it just ain't worth it. But the temptation is still there....

Anyone else in the same boat?
 
D

DarienA

The black man everyone at Activision can agree on
I went to my 10 year back in '98... it was... interesting. More so in a way like you said in terms of seeing who was doing what, who lost hair, who put on weight... what women were still hot, etc.... but on the whole it's not like I started keeping in contact with anyone I ran in to that night based on seeing them again.

So I could go either way on it if I had to do it again.

For me the airfare cost wasn't an issue because I use to drive home often(6-7hours). So yeah if there was airfare(at that cost) involved I'd probably say f*ck it.
 
X

xsarien

daedsiluap
My 10 year reunion is coming up in a few years, and the only reason I might consider going is to play the "Who Got Fat/Bald/Pregnant-Way-Too-Early" edition of Bingo.

I loathed high school.
 
A

Aruarian Reflection

Chauffeur de la gdlk
What's the point of high school reunions? The only people you want to talk to are the same people you've likely kept in touch with over the years anyway.
 
C

Cherubae

Member
I skipped out on my 10 year a few years ago. They wanted $120 for dinner and some reunion memory book. No thanks.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
Fort -- Where did you go to HS in Washington state?

My 10 year is still four years off, but I never hear what people are up to, so I'm very curious.

This problem would be easily solved if those damned alum website weren't overly expensive.
 
aparisi2274

aparisi2274

Member
I went to my reunion. It was in 2002. My old HS had nothing to do with it, so thanks to Classmates, a few of my old friends put it together. It wasnt a big turnout or anything. I think my graduating class was about 450 students, and about 85 showed up... But I didnt care it. It was everybody I was friends with in HS. It was great to see so many old faced. I had an amazing time..
 
M

Mama Smurf

My penis is still intact.
I ahve absolutely NO desire to go back to school. Sure, I've only been out 3 years, but I haven't really moved from the area and I'm already down to only one friend from there that I still have frequent contact with. Then maybe a few others I see a couple of times a year.

I hated that place, no way in hell I'm going back.
 
K

Kung Fu Jedi

Member
I am so with you guys. I skipped my 10 year, also back in '98, and have no interest in seeing anyone from High School. I'm still only friends with one guy I knew in high school and he's basically been my best friend since we were four or five years old. Otherwise, I have way more fun getting together with my best friends from college, who I try to see a couple times of year. Fuck those idiots back in my home town! :)
 
D

Dilbert

Member
I also missed mine, although I didn't have a choice -- I was out of the country on a long assignment for work.

I don't know if I would have chosen to go or not. On the one hand, I would have been intensely curious to see how others turned out...but on the other hand, I would have been enormously uncomfortable being scrutinized. If I could have gone to the reunion and watched everything from behind a one-way mirror or something, that would have been ideal.
 
T

ToxicAdam

Member
10 year reunions are to soon. I am more interested in 40 or 50 year reunions. By then, people don't give a fuck if you are fat, bald, rich or poor. It's how many divorces, how many children, and who is still alive by then. At that age all of your shallow pretenses are gone (or should be) and you can spend time reminiscing, instead of pissing contests.
 
S

SteveMeister

Hang out with Steve.
Most of my friends were either a year ahead or a year behind during high school, and the people I still cared about from my class were few and far between. So, no, I didn't bother with either my 10th or 20th reunions. In fact, there's only one person I knew from high school at all with whom I still keep in contact. All of my current friends are people I met in college or at my various jobs.
 
B

bishoptl

Banstick Emeritus
Dude, go. GO.

There's nothing better than seeing how other people in your peer group have changed in 10 years - and by all accounts you've done quite well for yourself, so wtf do you care how they see you? There are certain opportunities/milestones in life that you'll never get back, and that first HS reunion is one of them.

Now, if you daily regimen in HS consisted of daily beatdowns and forced sodomy, I'd understand your reticence to relive the good ol' days. But that wasn't the case, unless I'm missing something between the lines. :p
 
D

Doth Togo

Member
FortNinety said:
First off, a few things... I wasn't a popular kid in high school. I wasn't a total loser or anything, I had a small group of close friends, and I was known (and generally liked) by various others social circles, but that's pretty much it. Just another face in the crowd.

Actually, I did assault this one kid in the middle of art class... he was a total tool that was giving a friend of mine a hard time... he was giving her the ol "nobody likes me, I'm a freak, so I'm going to make you feel guilty for not dating me by pretending to be suicidal by forcing you to stay up all night on the phone with me"... that kind of douchebag, which promptly lead me to punch him in the face 13 times... I should know the exact number since it was all caught on digital video, which I used in a school project, and got an A! But anyway....

High school was in Washington State and I moved to NYC not long after to study the arts, where I've been ever since. I went back home for the first time two years later and was amazed by how everyone from school all of a sudden remembered who I was; seems word had spread about me going to "The Big Apple" The real thing was, no one else had taken the initiative to pursue a higher education, or follow what they wanted to do. Some went to community college, but most just stuck around getting high and working shitty 9 to 5 jobs, which just paid enough for the next beer/pot party. Or join the military. So all of a sudden, I had become a celeb of sorts, and even the once popular folks who previous didn't even know about me were asking me about NYC and the such.

This would continue for the next few years. At first, it was a real ego booster; afterall, I was just a college student and still a no body really, yet I was getting all this attention. But after awhile, it began to get a bit sad and depressing, hearing these folks' lives get worse and more wasteful. And now when I go back home, I avoid all the popular spots like bars and the like.

Anyway, ten years later and I'm a legitimate success in many ways (I'm a writer who's doing fairly well for himself, I also have my own company, plus I'm a teacher), and the 10 year reunion is just around the corner. I had been planning on going for a few years, but am now reconsidering it. I mean, what's the point really? I only have two real friends back home that I care about, everyone else is some ex-jock or cheerleader who has since long given up on any real hopes or ambitions that just thrives on getting wasted and nothing more. Why waste time bragging about one's achievements to a bunch of people who didn't give two shits about me in the first place ten years ago? Maybe I'd go for a laugh, but considering the price of air-fare ($400!) plus other associated expenses, it just ain't worth it. But the temptation is still there....

Anyone else in the same boat?
Click to expand...

My ten year reunion is this year. I keep up with several friends from high school. (I went to Myers Park High School in Charlotte, NC.) Thing is, nobody's organizing it. No interest whatsoever. :lol
 
R

Ristamar

Member
I skipped my 5 year reunion, but some of the guys I was friends with are going to the 10 year reunion (next year), so I'll probably attend just to hang with them for a bit.
 
K

Kabuki Waq

Member
you guys are lucky you went to one highschool throughout. I have to move during me senior year ugh!. My second highschool the one i graduated from was pure shit. Hated almost everyone there.

If i had graduted from my first highschool i would go for sure. Its fun to see how all your old friends have turned out. Or which popular girl is now fat with 3 kids and which jock guy is bald and fat.
 
Escape Goat

Escape Goat

Member
i dont care about anyone from HS. i dont talk to anyone from back then and dont have any desire to now. And, no, i wasn't some social lepar. I'm not going to go play fake nice for a night with a bunch of hillbillies.
 
D

daegan

Member
FortNinety said:
Anyway, ten years later and I'm a legitimate success in many ways (I'm a writer who's doing fairly well for himself, I also have my own company, plus I'm a teacher), and the 10 year reunion is just around the corner.
Click to expand...

This really makes me wonder where I'm gonna be 8 years from now. I graduated in 2003, tried to go to college but just cannot stay interested in the general requirement classes or even some for my major. I thought that maybe I just lost interest in my major so I took a few classes in other things I thought I was interested in - pretty much the only one of those that I enjoyed was the creative writing one...I've since realized that it's not my major I lost interest in, just school. Wonderful. And here I was, supposed to be the first person in my family to finish college. Did 4 semesters and barely passed enough classes to count for 2. (The ones I did pass, though, I got great grades in.)

So oftentimes I just don't know whether I'm going to be on the bitter or the happy side of the room when these things start happening, and this just made me think of that.
 
S

Slo

Member
Mine is two years away, and I'm not sure if I want to go. I'm reasonably successful, but I've only moved about 25 miles away from my tiny little hick hometown, so I still see some of the people from my school. For the most part, our high school was so small that there wasn't much of a "middle class": there was a clear distinction between the "big dreamers" that were probably going to end up being very successful and the "good ol' boys" that were destined to try to scrape out a living as the cashier at the hardware store downtown. For the most part the bottom feeders have held up their end of the bargain, and holy hell do they look like the walking dead. :lol The big dreamers have all drifted in the wind just as I expected, but I have no idea which ones made it and which ones went on to be losers in other cities.

If anything, I was the middle class, and I did ok for myself. :) In similiar fashion to the topic poster, I was "just some guy" in high school by all accounts. I imagine if I attend my reunion, I'll be smack dab in the middle of no man's land again. Not as successfull as the guy who's working for Oli's dad at NASA, but better off than the guy who's working for his dad on a dairy farm.
 
M

McLesterolBeast

Member
I'd go to an elementary school reuinon, but not a high school one. I just had no attachment to anything about my high school. I got along fine with everyone, it's just that for all i care, they might as well be dead.

Im finishing univeristy in a year and i doubt i'd go to a reunion for that either. Anyone i want to keep in touch with i have on my msn list.
 
C

cvxfreak

Member
Just found out today my school's establishing an alumni association that I plan to be a part of (MySpace makes things like that easier :D). My principal told the class during grad practice that there would be a meet-up once a year. Sounds good.

That said, I plan to go to every reunion, 1, 5, 10, 20... whoa at the 20.
 
B

BojTrek

Banned
Went to a small 20 year grade school reunion last year (wow 1984)

I would not have gone to my high school reunion if they had my address. I went to an all-guys (at the time), Catholic high school... I am actually not friends with any of them.

My current friends are people I met in 1989-1990 in college...

I would only go to another grade school get-together!
 
O

Outcast2004

Banned
Doth Togo said:
My ten year reunion is this year. I keep up with several friends from high school. (I went to Myers Park High School in Charlotte, NC.) Thing is, nobody's organizing it. No interest whatsoever. :lol
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat.... mine's next year and I just want to see the people I graduated with and how their lives have changed outside the protective walls of the HS.

Like Fort, I was an art student and doing quite well now. Married, great job for a major metro newspaper in the creative dept, nice house and money to spare.... but HS I was considered a little odd because I didnt talk much and just drew all the time. Hell of an artist, just not much of a communicator. That occured after graduation, I developed a personality... a smartass/biting one.

Gonna be a shock to everyone if I decide to go. No longer am I the skinny guy who played basketball and excelled in art.

Now I'm the tall hulking guy who excels in art, and takes no crap from anyone. I've ran into people from HS, and they never recognize me until I give my name.

Everyone knew OF me, but din't know me personally.

EDIT: if you're from Louisville HS in Ohio... then I have a message for you. Go fuck yourselves for making HS miserable for me because I had a talent you didn't possess or understand.
 
M

Minotauro

Finds Purchase on Dog Nutz
You're actually considering spending $400 to go hang out with people from high school? Jesus, just give me $200 and I'll pretend to be interested while you tell me about yourself.

Personally, I hated high school and have zero interest in seeing those people again.
 
D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
I've got 7 years to go, but if my friends headed back for the reunion I'd definitely make an effort to show up. I had lots of good friends in high school and most of us spread across the country afterwards so if there was an opportunity for us to all get together and laugh at all the idiots who fucked up their lives, well that'd be good fun. I wouldn't go real out of my way to show up, since I keep in good touch with my best friends and decent enough contact with the uh, second tier of high school friends, but if it was possible I imagine it'd be interesting for a night.
 
Bluecondor

Bluecondor

Member
The whole thing with the 5 and 10 year reunions is that you have to go and not take yourself or what is going on too seriously. For three or four magical hours, you will be transported back to the social context of your high school, and then, the next day, it ceases to exist again until the next reunion.

It's actually quite amazing when you think about it. The social context (who is popular and geek, all of the stories and myths associated with your high school peers, even language) of high school is basically suspended upon graduation, and then is "re-animated" for 3 or 4 hours - every 5 years or so.

Now - I don't mean to deconstruct this. In fact, I thought of this point after seeing the movie "Gross Pointe Blank" - in which John Cusack, a professional killer, attends his 10 year high school reunion. The movie is a brilliant depiction of a 10 year h.s. reunion. He goes back there to reconnect with his gf from high school - and they still have great chemistry. At the same time, there is a dude there still holding on to a grudge - 10 years after the fact "There is no you and me." They even have the couple who wear their wedding gear to the reunion (i.e. a metaphor for those people who wear their marriages on their sleeves) and the girl who was Miss Student Government in h.s., who ends up a frustrated adult woman with 4 kids in a sexless marriage. Then you have the one guy - still hung up over a girl he sat next to in home room - 10 years ago.

The ten year reunion is the perfect time to witness hilarious things like this, and then think about where you are/how far you have come since you were a part of the amazingly powerful/influential social context of high school - ten years before.

And - in GPB - it's the 10 year that drives him back into the arms of Minnie Driver ("That" girl, who got away, but, it still could happen, because it's still probably there). Why not give it a shot.....
 
M

Mashing

Member
My 10 year reunion is coming up next year and I'm not planning on going even considering I live about a 2-3 minute drive from my old high school. Other than my band memories, high school wasn't a very enjoyable experience for me. I wouldn't mind seeing my bandmates again though.
 
T

tedtropy

$50/hour, but no kissing on the lips and colors must be pre-separated
Mashing said:
My 10 year reunion is coming up next year and I'm not planning on going even considering I live about a 2-3 minute drive from my old high school. Other than my band memories, high school wasn't a very enjoyable experience for me. I wouldn't mind seeing my bandmates again though.
Click to expand...

Man you're getting old. :D
 
L

lordmrw

Member
Mine is coming up in 3 years, and I think I'll go if I'm still relatively close in the area (Providence, Rhode Island). I graduate from college this december, and I plan on getting a job out of state, so I don't know if I'll feel like going back if I'm too far away. I still see quite a few people from my class, mostly the ones who fucked up and became drug addicts, got pregnant, etc.
 
T

tedtropy

$50/hour, but no kissing on the lips and colors must be pre-separated
Mashing said:
I know... 10 years out of high school and I'm basically still a bum.
Click to expand...

Hey, you picked a goal and saw it through.
 
D

Drensch

Member
I'm in the same situation. But the thing is, anyone I gave a crap about in Hs, I'm still friends with, so there's no real impetus to go. WE did have an idea of all going as pirates, but I doubt we do it.
 
M

Mama Smurf

My penis is still intact.
Those of you hoping that bully who always picked on you and got the girls is now fat, has 10 kids and works at McDonalds should definitely go.

You know, so we get interesting GAF topics about how life isn't fair when you find out they bullied their way to high positions in companies (whose boss isn't an asshole after all) and have a beatutiful wife on their arm.

Or, perhaps even worst, you find that the bullies have grown up and become nice people with good jobs and families. Having had all the fun at high school often at your expense, they're now living the life you thought they couldn't possibly have unless they were like you were back then.

Sounds fun.
 
H

human5892

Queen of Denmark
I hated most of the people in my high school. I have no desire to see them again, other than to validate a mild hope that they either straightened out into decent people or failed miserably at life.
 
Bluecondor

Bluecondor

Member
"Or, perhaps even worst, you find that the bullies have grown up and become nice people with good jobs and families. Having had all the fun at high school often at your expense, they're now living the life you thought they couldn't possibly have unless they were like you were back then."

Wow! This is deep! :lol

I have to admit - it is painfully ironic when you read about a dude from high school in the newspaper who is like this. We had a guy who was a total jerk - he used to hit girls he dated, would seek out kids who were weaker than him and pick on them relentlessly, and basically made class utter hell and pure torture from his complete lack of respect for the teachers and his peers (i.e. the kind of dude who would pull it out in the middle of class - just to get a reaction).

Naturally, the dude I am talking about got married, has four nice kids, became a cop, and saved a woman from a burning car.....

Damn him though!!! :lol
 
B

belgurdo

Banned
Mama Smurf said:
Those of you hoping that bully who always picked on you and got the girls is now fat, has 10 kids and works at McDonalds should definitely go.
Click to expand...

I don't need to go to a reunion to see that. I already have with many people I went to school with
 
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