Friday, August 30, 2013

Tales of a high school nothing

So the Heritage High School Class of '93 celebrated 20 years a few weeks ago.  For me, high school reunions are weird.  I mean, you know me and my Facebooking skills.  If I'm curious about anyone, I can usually draw my own conclusions based on what I can glean from Facebook.  And let's face it, my conclusions are probably way more interesting than reality, and I like it that way.  So I never really planned on attending the exorbitantly priced shindig at a downtown bar, but I did find myself thinking about what it would be like if I actually went.  My conclusion: it would have been an awkward evening of small talk.

The pictures of the evening were posted to Facebook a few days ago, and of course, I clicked through to see who actually paid the price and showed up.  The surprising thing? I barely recognized anyone.  I thought I knew everyone from high school, but guess what? I didn't know anyone.  I would see photos of people I could kind of recognize, but I couldn't remember their names or who they really were. Then the thought occurred to me-- How many of them would know who I was?

In high school everyone is pretty self-centered and I was no different.  I thought people cared about what I was wearing, how I looked, and who I hung out with more than they actually did. The reality is that I would probably be one of the people at the reunion that looked kind of familiar but no one would be able to put their finger on who I was. To my high school self it would have been devastating to realize I was a nobody.  To my adult self being a high school nobody is just fine-- it kept me out of trouble and actually means I had more of a life after high school than during.  I like it better that way.

1 comment:

Hoffmann Family said...

I love this! I felt the same way. I went to the picnic and that was a huge flop. There were maybe 10 of us and it was awkward to say the least. Glad I didn't pay the money to stand around and drink soda (I don't drink) while trying to make small talk with people I really didn't know then and don't know now.