Reunions

I have my high school (Year 10) 20 year reunion this weekend, it’s going to be a head trip. Facebook has sucked most of the fun out of it but still should be good for a laugh, some of those fuckers look 10 years older than they should and I wouldn't have otherwise recognised them on the street if I walked past them. There were only about 120 kids in my year group.

Focus: Discuss your reunion experiences, funny or otherwise.

Alt Focus: Any novel tips on how to mess with people appreciated.

 

Focus: I enjoyed going to my ten year reunion, I wasn't particularly popular in high school or anything, but it was nice to catch up with people I grew up with. There was a lot less cattiness than I expected which was a pleasant surprise, mostly just people catching up. Also only one of my friends went so it was cool to spend time talking to people I had known for years but never really had a conversation with in high school. It probably wouldn't have been worth the two hour drive (and $50 to get in plus cash bar) if I weren't in NH for the weekend already, but I'm glad I went.

One big bummer was that practically no one showed, it makes sense when you consider the fact that a lot of people had weddings to go to and an inordinate amount of people in my class moved away from home, but shit, we were a class of 200+ and only had about 30 people at the reunion, dates included. The worst part is we paid extra to have it at a hotel near the airport for people out of town (a lot showed interest) and not one of them flew in... great.

Just a heads up for those of you about to hit yours, if you still live in town and don't go people are going to assume the worst. Also, if you you can't afford to go don't put a passive aggressive note on facebook saying you can't afford it, just lie and say you don't have time, or just say no and nothing else.

 

We had our 25 year reunion a couple of years ago, and I didn't waste my time. In fact, I haven't attended any (10, 15 and 20 years as well) of them.

If I haven't kept in touch with you over the past 20+ years, it means I don't want to. I'm an adult now - I don't need a contrived excuse to go out for dinner and drinks. And I certainly wouldn't waste my time and money with people I no longer know, if I ever did, whom I never liked.

Fuck reunions.

 

It's funny, I buck most contrived meetings and ceremonies but I have a soft spot for reunions. What other time can you get a group that size to meet together at the same place on the same day? You grew up with these people so for better or worse they are a part of your life. I know I'm a lot younger than you, but I think the notion that you're in contact with every person you want to be in contact with is kind of bullshit, unless you're still in the same town and no one you like moved I have a hard time believing that there isn't someone in your life that for no other reason than distance/scheduling fell off the radar. I'm not saying you should move mountains to go to your reunion, but if you're not busy, what's the worst case scenario? No one grew up and you have a lame night out. That's it. On the other hand you could reconnect with people you forgot about that got lost in the shuffle. All in all it beats an average night at the bar in my book and has about the same level of buy in.

That said if you actively disliked the people in your class then by all means skip it.

 

I can see where this may seem hard to believe. But I put great effort into remaining in contact with my good friends. I still speak with, on a regular basis, all of my old friends from high school and many folks since. Nearly all of them have moved away (as in 100 to 1500 miles away), although I have not. And I see them as often as I can.

My oldest friend in the world has been my friend for 45 years. Still in touch - went to both her weddings, and helped her son with a cub scout project last year. I still keep in regular touch with all of my close high school friends (six guys), and at least three of them have been friends since grammar school. One is married to my cousin, and another made me the godfather of his second daughter. My two closest buddies from college I have known for 25 years. I saw one last week and had a phone call from the other two days before that.

I could go on, but you get the idea. I put great value in old friends. If you haven't heard from me in the past couple of years, you aren't one.

 

I don't think I'll ever even be invited to any of my class reunions; not because I was actively disliked by the majority of my classmates but rather due to technically not even graduating with them.

Since it's not within the focus, I present my story below with the spoiler tag.

Spoiler

I was expelled two weeks before prom in my junior year, roughly around April if I recall correctly; due to a weapons violation. (One day I wore my 'work' jeans to school, and it happened that I left my big-ass pocket knife in the pocket. The pocket clip was seen by the deputy posted at the school.) So I was expelled for a full calender year, which ended in April of my senior year.

This is the tricky part of the situation for me. I spent my expulsion going to the county's alternative school; (basically a dumping ground for pregnant students, the kids that live in the local group home, kids serving out long suspensions or who were expelled...) I could have went right back to the regular high school the week after senior prom, but instead I decided to just finish the last two months of high school at the alternative school for various reasons. When 'graduation day' came there was me, and two other people receiving our diplomas during lunch in the alternative school's cafeteria.

My diploma says I graduated from XXX County High School instead of XXX County Alternative Education. Yet I didn't have my name in the year book, or even have senior pictures. So at the moment it's pretty iffy if I'm even considered to have graduated with the rest of my classmates.

 

I'll go to mine. Why the hell not? I'll probably be in the area, and there are plenty of people from my class whom I was friendly with but just fell out of touch. No reason to become pen pals, but I'd love to see them again.

 

I hated my reunion. My date and I decided that doing shots every time someone offered to show me their kid's photos was the only way to get through it.

Oh and my date (a very witty Russian gent) went around an told several people that I had 'bought' him via mail order. This was 2003. I didn't find out until the rise of Facebook a few years down the road when I got a FB message asking me about the logistics of buying a Russian man.

 

There are like 2 guys I went to high school with who I sort of keep in touch with. One was my best friend in high school - who unfortunately hasn't grown up in the fucking slightest since high school. We're still face book friends - but that's about it. He's just fucking embarrassing to hang out with now.

The other was a good friend in high school - but I worked with his older brother for a few years after high school and ended up pretty good friends with him, and his dad and I have worked on the same project a few times. The fact that the younger brother and I still have each other on face book is more about the friendship with his family than with him personally.

I wouldn't recognize most of the people I went to high school with and I frankly wouldn't want to.

I did go to a reunion for my primary school class (A girl I had a crush on in school, who I knew turned out smoking hot from facebook pictures was going). My primary take away from that was that facebook pictures aren't a great way to assess how hot someone is, and some vague amusement at how the 'cool kids' were almost universally single parents now.

 

Yup. I went to one of our nation's godawful, state prison looking ,Columbine waiting to be, flyover state, public high schools. For the most part, I hate those people, and I saw the reunion photos and they're now all fat and angry looking. Like Jabbas the Hut.

However, my husband grew up in a well to do mostly Jewish suburb in the Midwest, and I went with him to his 20th, and it was a blast. His former classmates, at least the ones that showed up, were all smart, interesting, wonderful looking, happy and funny. Even though he had a closeknit group of dudes back in the day, we don't keep in touch really, but I'd go back to one of his reunions in a heartbeat....I like smart and interesting people.

 

I'm feeling that. My partner went to a private all girls school, I went to a dodgy public school. We were comparing Facebook pick of ex-classmates and the difference was incredible. Most of girls in my year look ravaged by time, fat, unhappy with fat ugly children hanging off them. In Lesstalketts year group they almost all look fit and attractive (or at least doing the best with what they have)

I used to get picked on for being too short and was called “professor” for not being retarded and speaking to well (the bar to being the prof was pretty fucking low)

 

I've always been curious about how reunions get organized. They just magically happen, but nobody seems to know how. Does a random class member just planning one day? Is the valedictorian supposed to do it? Because I'm surprised our valedictorian made it to graduation without dying of a cocaine overdose, he HAS to be dead by now.

 

Yeah, pretty much, I have no fucking idea how this got done before the internet.

 

I've been stalking the Facebook group set up to organize the reunion for my class; as far as I can tell the head cheerleader seems to be the head honcho for setting up the five year reunion. I don't guess it was much different pre-internet; the prom queen or class valedictorian or some such shit probably sat down with the year book and a phone book and started running down names.

 

I've got my grade 12 20 year reunion in a couple of months. I could take or leave it but, since it's local and there might be someone going I actually could stand to see, I'll probably go along.

I went to my 10 year which was, coincidentally, 10 years ago. Back then it was more about sticking it to the people who'd been assholes back then. Like LTMS, I went to a public school which was in a working class area. A lot of the popular kids/jocks were 10 years past their prime. Seeing them 20 years past their prime ought to be worth a chuckle.

For the record, I'm a vindictive bastard who bears grudges until death. I've just mellowed slightly in my old age. I don't need to get even any more, I just like to see karma make them suffer.

 

In my experience, it's usually a Girl who was insecure (fat) in highschool who wants to show off her success/weightloss realizes that it's in the date range and starts selling the idea to whoever she's still in touch with. The most common exception seems to be a soccer mom who literally has nothing better to do, who has been nostalgically remembering a time when she had a future that involved more than cleaning up after ingrates and maintaing a stale relationship 'for the kids'.

 

I'm gonna be going to my ten-year high school reunion later this month. Maybe.

Let me explain:
In our school, the student government is supposed to manage the finances brought in from fund raisers, which I guess is protected by the school - i don't know that part. So after the prom and senior trips and all that shit, the class should have savings for a reunion.
I don't think a class has ever had money left over since my parents graduated.

One girl from my class spearheaded the reunion. Afterwards, my friend and I are going to be playing a gig at a local bar, and so that's become a sort of afterparty.
Why an afterparty? The girl picked a location for the reunion that is alcohol-free. I can understand that she has to pay all the deposits and catering costs up front, but she just shot herself in the foot. So although there's at least 30 people that are saying they're going, nobody except me and one other person actually paid the $30 needed to cover the cost (since, you know, we don't have any class funds). So now the girl is saying she'll have to cancel if nobody pays.

So I'm already planning to take this shit over when I get home in a few weeks: I come from southeast PA. Half my graduating class has land all over the county with apple orchards and giant warehouses that aren't currently being used. If it gets cancelled, a few of my friends will chip in for a keg or two, and we get drunk.

 

My 10 year was just a few months ago and was a complete cluster fuck. It was "supposed" to be arranged by the class president. She started disseminating information down through FB, and started a Facebook page to get in contact with everyone. She basically said "if you have anyone on your friends list that graduated with us, send them the link to this page." Seemed the best, most logical way to contact everyone.

Problem is, people who aren't on FB and a few people who were never contacted got all pissy and decided to start an "alternative reunion," started their own page, and invited everyone. They then proceeded to bitch about how all the "stuck up bitches" that were planning it somehow had it out for them, just like back in high school. This created a mind numbingly stupid back-and-forth that just cemented my plan of not going and dealing with a bunch of morons that apparently never got past their silly high school BS, or matured even in the slightest. Eventually, everyone settled on a single date and place after it was pushed back twice to ensure that everyone got invited and no one was crying anymore.

Apparently, about 30 people (out of a class about 280) attended. Only one person that I considered a friend in high school actually went to it, and he said it was a complete joke. I highly doubt there will be a 20th reunion.

 

I went to a boarding school and reunions are for one thing and one thing only: hitting us up for money. Sure they have events like golf, sailing, dinners etc. during the 'Reunion Weekend' (which you have to pay for) but the main focus is asking for cash.

I went to my 5th because a classmate called me at a friend's house on a Friday nite asking me to come down. It turned into a keg & liquor party in front of our old dorm and someone puked all over the commons room at some point. I left very early Saturday morning and didn't participate in the alumni activities.

My 25th is coming up next year but I have no idea if I'll go or not. It would be awesome to rent a couple of escorts for the weekend and tell everyone I was a porn producer.