I was incredibly shy when I was a kid and I had kept in touch with the only person from high school that I really wanted to, but for some strange reason when my 10 year reunion came around I decided to go.
I had long since shed my shyness, had plenty of friends and a fairly successful career. Maybe I just wanted to prove that, I don't know.
My best friend from school and I decided we would attend together without our (then) husbands. They would be bored anyway, so why drag them along.
So I figure we'll go, maybe meet up with a few old friends and have a good time.
But, the minute I walked in the door, some weird, unexplainable thing happened. The person I had become in the last ten years went "poof" and I was instantly transported back into the misery of high school. I had no clue what to say to anyone, I felt stupid, ugly and unpopular.
First off, they have name tags for each of us. AND, the tags included our high school senior picture. Let's put it this way, I didn't "peak" in the looks department when I was in high school. So, at 28, my senior picture was not something I wanted to wearing around on my chest all night. I found some kind of sticker and placed it directly over the picture leaving my name. I knew that some of my old friends would no longer recognize me, but they would remember my name.
Then I spotted a girl I recognized. In high school Shirley had the most unruly hair, thick glasses and if it was possible, was less popular than I was. I remembered her, I remembered being friendly to her when everyone else was really not very nice at all. Ten years later, she hadn't exactly turned from the ugly duckling into a swan, but she had controlled her hair a bit.
Now I expected the "popular" kids to ignore me, not know who I was and not care. But Shirley walks up with this haughty air about her. It was so obvious she was there to make a new impression on everyone and I suppose she was going to start with me. I said, "Hi Shirley." She looks down her nose at me, God knows why and checks out my name tag. I'm thinking, OK fine, we were never really friends, but honest to God, I was about the only person who spoke to this girl in high school.
With my picture covered, she repeats my full name, as if she was trying to recall who I was. I wasn't going to lose any sleep over Shirley not remembering me, so I just stood there looking at her. Then she repeats my name again.
And she says in the loftiest tone ever, "I don't remember you. What were you involved in?"
I had had enough. I looked straight at her and said, "Not a DAMNED thing" and walked off.
The rest of the night I met up with a few old friends and laughed to myself watching the fading popular kids trying to impress each other and people like Shirley still trying to impress everyone else.
Thank God the rest of life isn't like high school. People who know me now never believe I was shy. And I NEVER show them my senior picture.
And I've never felt the need to go to any reunion since. No one would know me anyway, including myself.
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7 comments:
Wow.
I'm oddly saddened by your post.
We've all seen the stereotypical behavior at H.S. reunions shown on TV and movies, and I guess we've all experienced it to some degree when attending the things. But personally, I've stayed in touch with enough classmates that there has always been a core group of folks that I love and want to share my time with...
Others at the reunion can go and do whatever negative behavior they want to do... I'll be unaffected by it.
As we have all aged, the trappings of "I've done 'this well', how well have you done?" has kinda fallen by the wayside. Some of my classmates have done very, very well. Some, not so much. But in our H.S. years our generation experienced interesting times...
The world was in serious turmoil and we had to cover for one another to a certain degree to keep our sanity as the world seemingly came apart around us. I think it made us stronger. I KNOW it made us closer.
Do you feel that at Vandy's Kids? I hope so, 'cause now you are one.
You can be an honorary member of the Class of '65...
The "peace and love" generation.
There's little phoniness amongst us now.
Cool. I'm now an honorary member of the Class of 65. Works for me. Honestly most of the way I felt I am sure was of my own doing. I just could not fit it. At least by the time I reached high school I blended into the woodwork. In Junior High I was not so lucky.
I was saved somewhat the last two years by attending the vocational technical school part time.
The funniest thing about the reunion was that they put out a booklet prior to the event explaining what everyone had done for the last 10 years. Shirley's story read like a bad novel, flying all over the world, dropping names of people she had met and supposedly her husband was in the military.
When they arrived at the reunion, he wore his "uniform". I had never quite seen a military uniform like that. Kinda reminded me of a Salvation Army uniform, but who knows. So I had an inkling of what she was attempting to do at the reunion.
Sounds like I'd like a '65 reunion. Keep me in mind when they come up.
I think the class of '71 got along very well, for the most part. I can remember back in elementary school when kids made fun of one of our classmates that had a deformed face. I was the only one in the class that was nice to her. But in high school, no one made fun of her. I think she was just kind of ignored.
But she came to our ten-year class reunion--I think to show off her husband. You could tell she was proud of him. And happily, the class of '71 was nice to her and treated her like an old friend.
I must admit to making fun of one classmate one time...and I made him cry. I apologized to him over and over. I hope he's forgotten it, but I never will.
Now I realize that it's only OK to make fun of your little sister.
Cissy, It's too hard to make fun of me now, it's much easier to go after C & C. He's always been an easy target.
The first reunion I went to was the 10th. It was fun, but R.V from I believe Cissy's class was playing D.J. and blasting music so loud you couldn't talk to anyone.the next time was the alumni banquet and it they were honoring our 25th. I walked around to find our table when I got the the 25th table, I thought there was some mistake, my table was all old people! Hmmm it was a dose of reality.
At least I didn't get sh*tfaced at my reunions like Cissy LOL
Yeah, bring up the only time in my entire life I got drunk...and it was an accident, I tell you. By the time I got the first drink down, I found out the bartender was mixing everything triple-strength. Too late. I had 3.5 drinks from 7 to midnight. That shouldn't have made me drunk. But when you take that times three...well, it was too much--especially for a person that is only a social drinker.
At least I learned my lesson. Being sick for three days is not my idea of a fun time. Never, ever again. Nope, not me.
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